UC police union blames UCLA administration for 'lack of response' to campus violence

LOS ANGELES - The union that represents police officers at University of California schools has blamed UCLA administrators for the "lack of response" to violence that broke out at pro-Palestine student protests on campus this week, and said that any investigation into the issue should be independent.

"UC administrators are solely responsible for the University’s response to campus protests, and they own all the fallout from those responses," Wade Stern, President of the Federated University Police Officers Association, said in a press release Saturday.

Hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators began camping out on UCLA's campus in Royce Quad last week, demanding, in-part, that the university divest from "companies and institutions that are complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people."

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Early Wednesday morning, pro-Israel counterprotesters attacked the encampment. Fireworks were shot at demonstrators and objects were thrown. FOX 11 was on the scene during the attack, with video showing law enforcement standing by while the attacks continued. Police in riot gear did not move in until hours later.

Students in support of both Palestine and Israel expressed frustration to FOX 11 about the lack of intervention by the university. One security guard on UCLA's campus, who spoke to FOX 11 under condition of anonymity, said "UCLA could have stopped this a long time ago."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for an investigation into the university's response to the attack.

University of California President Michael Drake said in a statement Wednesday that he has "requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired," and that he's "ordering an independent external review of both UCLA's planning and actions, and the effectiveness of the mutual aid response."

The FUPOA said in its statement Saturday that that investigation will "undoubtedly uncover multiple failures to implement and adhere to UC’s own guidelines for response to campus protests."

The union alleged that, according to policy, each UC school is responsible for establishing a task force that would respond to student protests on campus, but that those teams haven't been trained since 2020, "as the UC and their campuses have not funded any training."

The union also claimed that administrators told campus police to "stand down and stand aside" during the protests. They claimed that in a 911 call, a Jewish student who'd called police asking for help because he was being barred from a campus library was told by the dispatcher that administrators had told campus police not to intervene.

"The UCLA administration has much to answer for in the upcoming probe, and their adherence to established guidelines should play a central part," the police union's statement read.

Just over 24 hours after the attack on the encampment, law enforcement moved in and cleared it. More than 200 protesters were arrested.

""In the end, the encampment on Royce Quad was both unlawful and a breach of policy.," UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, said in a statement Thursday. "It led to unsafe conditions on our campus and it damaged our ability to carry out our mission. It needed to come to an end." 

City News Service contributed to this report.