UCLA police chief, blasted for security lapses that led to protest violence, is out

[ad_1] UCLA Police Chief John Thomas, who was blasted for critical safety lapses and failing to guard college students throughout a melee at a pro-Palestinian encampment final spring, has left his job on the college, the campus police division stated Wednesday night time.

In a submit on the social media platform X, the UCLA Police Division stated that Thomas’ final day with UCLA was Tuesday. UCLA Police Capt. Scott Scheffler will function interim police chief till a everlasting chief is chosen, the submit stated.

The submit didn't elaborate on whether or not Thomas voluntarily resigned or was fired. Rick Braziel, affiliate vice chancellor who heads the newly created Workplace of Campus Security, knowledgeable Thomas after the melee that he could be reassigned whereas inside and exterior investigations examined campus safety shortfalls. Through the violence in early Might, UCLA college students and others concerned within the protest encampment needed to fend for themselves in opposition to attackers for 3 hours earlier than regulation enforcement moved in to quell the disturbance.

Braziel declined to answer a query Wednesday about whether or not Thomas was terminated and stated he had no assertion.

Thomas couldn't be reached for remark. He instructed The Occasions in Might that he did “every little thing I might” to offer safety and hold college students secure throughout every week of strife that left UCLA reeling.

He stated he suggested management from the start to not enable an encampment as a result of it violated campus guidelines in opposition to in a single day tenting and he feared it might result in issues as he assessed different protests sweeping the nation.

College management, he stated, determined to permit the tents “as an expression of scholars’ 1st Modification rights” and directed that police not be included in any safety plan. He additionally instructed The Occasions he developed a plan that relied on personal safety and made positive to alert the Los Angeles Police Division of the necessity to reply instantly ought to issues come up. Thomas stated he offered each day briefings to campus management on the newest state of affairs, the variety of sources and the response protocol, and assigned roles for these deployed.

However a College of California unbiased assessment launched final month discovered that UCLA failed to guard college students as a result of a “extremely chaotic” decision-making course of, lack of communication amongst campus leaders and police, and different shortfalls led to institutional paralysis.

The assessment, carried out by a nationwide regulation enforcement consulting company, discovered that UCLA had no detailed plan for dealing with main protests, whilst issues had been “moderately foreseeable” as encampments at different campuses had been drawing at instances violent battle. Campus police had no efficient plan to work with exterior regulation enforcement and did not take command on the night time of the melee — main the LAPD and the California Freeway Patrol to plot an advert hoc response.

The assessment really helpful how you can repair future responses to campus unrest or emergencies. Braziel has begun to deal with these shortcomings by overhauling UCLA’s safety and security operations.