Intense UCLA policing draws scrutiny as security chief speaks out on handling protests

On the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7, UCLA braced for potentially explosive protests as hundreds of people gathered on campus to mourn and rage over lives lost, hostages held, families destroyed and neighborhoods ravaged in the year since Hamas attacked southern Israel and Israel retaliated with a massive military assault on Gaza.

A tense moment came when pro-Palestinian supporters marched into a campus area off-limits to protest activities and initially refused to leave after student affairs staff told them they were violating campus rules.

Police were called in. They determined protesters were not breaking any laws. The protesters moved on and the night ended with no arrests, no significant confrontations — and, in an intentional UCLA effort to create a calmer environment, no visible massive mobilization of police in riot gear wielding batons.

UCLA, under outside and internal reviews for its widely blasted handling of a violent melee, encampment takedown and protests last spring, is drawing some criticism for a “militarized campus” and other concerns, such as security costs. But the university is trying to turn a corner with more effective policing and security protocols.

At the center of UCLA security is Rick Braziel, a former Sacramento police chief who was hired in May by then-Chancellor Gene Block as the inaugural associate vice chancellor of a new Office of Campus Safety. In an interview with The Times, Braziel laid out his strategy for overhauling UCLA security operations — and responded to questions and criticism from faculty and others about his role, which is actually a $52,000-a-month short-term position.

“My vision is a beautiful campus where people feel safe and comfortable with each other and police are seen as part of the family, not an invading army,” Braziel said. “It’s not a one-person fix. It’s going to take a whole team of experts from inside and outside the UCLA organization to create positive change.”

By far, the key concern expressed by many campus members is what they perceive as a “militarized” campus with too many police and security officers. Law enforcement officers have arrested more than 200 protesters, are working on about 50 related criminal cases and drew outrage when they used batons, pepper balls and sponge rounds fired from launchers — some of which badly injured several students — during protests in April, May and June.

Anna Markowitz, an associate professor of education, said the heavy presence of officers standing around “in little packs” made the campus less comfortable, ramping up tensions and the potential for racial profiling. Another faculty member said he was shocked to count 14 officers in a half-mile walk through campus.

“What’s the plan to get rid of this?” Markowitz said she asked at recent Academic Senate town hall with Braziel and Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt. “Is there a plan?”

Braziel’s response during the town hall — putting security officers in friendlier blue-and-gold UCLA polo shirts instead of the black shirts that many currently wear — did not play well among faculty, who said he missed their larger concerns of the tense campus climate created by the stepped-up patrols.

Students also have complained. One third-year student, who declined to give his full name because of retaliation, said the heavy security presence was “complete overkill” and did not make him feel safe. “I don’t feel they are on campus to protect me and my peers,” he said. “I didn’t see them step in when the encampment was being attacked. They had a chance to do something and they procrastinated.”

Adam Tfayli, undergraduate student body president, said Braziel has been responsive, meeting regularly with student leaders, but they haven’t seen him deliver much yet on their requests to lower surveillance on students and preserve their right to free speech.

But behind the scenes, Braziel said he is working to improve safety and security systems riddled with major flaws.

• Staffing: He told The Times that he has hired outside consultants to do a deep dive into security staffing levels, based on such data as the number of calls and response times, to assess the optimal mix of civilians and sworn police officers needed to keep the campus safe. The work by Philadelphia-based Public Financial Management is part of a commission to set up the new Office of Campus Safety.
• Protest response plan: He has hired outside help to prepare a protest response plan for fall term and beyond. The consulting firm, 21CP Solutions, is also conducting the systemwide review of UCLA’s actions during the melee and encampment takedown. That review was ordered by University of California President Michael V. Drake.
• Training: Braziel said he is aiming to expand training of police officers and university leaders, including state and federally required emergency management practices, which had lapsed in some cases. He also said better-trained civilian security officers might command higher pay but would allow UCLA to deploy fewer of them.
• Communications: He has hired Julie Parker Communications, a government and police crisis communication firm, to ramp up police messaging about campus events, such as protests, and introduce law enforcement forces to the public.
• Relationships: Braziel said he is working to strengthen relationships with external law enforcement agencies and city leaders, which were frayed during the spring stemming from UCLA’s protest management. Several top LAPD leaders, for instance, told The Times that then-UCLA Police Chief John Thomas had tarnished the reputation of Los Angeles law enforcement with what they called his lack of planning and poor communication with them during the week of the melee and encampment takedown. Thomas, who has defended his actions, has been reassigned.
• Integration: Campus police and civilian security officers need to become part of the campus, he said. It’s why he promoted the idea of UCLA-branded wear for civilian safety staff in the model of community policing that relies on strong relationships between security forces and those they serve.

Avoiding a repeat security failure

Braziel agreed that a visible, large police presence on campus can be counter-effective. Yet the campus must be prepared.

On Oct. 7, he said, he and his team had fully staffed up — deploying all 51 campus police officers available that day, tripling normal private security staffing to 158 officers, bringing some UC San Francisco officers to UCLA and requesting LAPD forces to stand by on campus.

But he kept most of the officers out of sight inside buildings, close enough to intervene if needed but without presenting a negative “visual impact,” he said. Police had their riot gear ready but did not wear it, an intentional decision.

“If you dress for a riot, you’re going to get a riot,” Braziel said. “The visual is super important to the response you’re going to get.”

He declined to comment on why no university action was taken against pro-Palestinian students who refused to comply with protest rules on approved free speech zones and amplified-sound restrictions. He said police did not arrest anyone because protesters were not significantly disrupting campus operations, the trigger to declare an unlawful assembly and cite them if they refuse to leave.

Pro-Israel activities, including a play dramatizing accounts of Hamas attack survivors, a vigil for Israeli lives lost and a display of 1,200 Israeli flags in a campus park, drew no major disruptions.

An Israel supporter sets up an Oct. 7 display of Israeli flags at UCLA.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Why UCLA hired a new security chief

Braziel also addressed questions, raised by faculty, over the opaque and hasty process Block used to hire him a few days after UCLA exploded in violence when outsiders attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment April 30 and law enforcement forcibly took down the tents two days later.

Ariela Gross, a UCLA law professor, was one of several who expressed concern about accountability as Braziel was hired so quickly into such a senior position to start a new administrative office without faculty input — as is generally required under UC’s system of shared governance.

“When you see something thrown together in a couple of days that hasn’t been vetted but has enormous power, I have concerns,” Gross said. “There’s potential for abuse.”

But Braziel’s terms of employment are significantly different from public assumptions, based on Block’s announcement. He is not a permanent employee with multiple responsibilities related to campus safety. Braziel’s original contract, obtained by The Times, ended Aug. 31 and has been extended until the end of the year.

He said he hoped to have key changes in place with a plan to move forward to hand off to the incoming chancellor, Julio Frenk, who will take the reins Jan. 1.

Braziel, 64, who lives in Sacramento, said he never had a desire or intention to move to Los Angeles for a long-term job. He said he agreed to a short-term contract to review UCLA’s protest management and suggest institutional changes to improve safety practices after first being contacted by the UC Office of the President and then Block.

He has reviewed law-enforcement responses across the country in such high-profile cases as the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas; riots in Ferguson, Mo.; and the shootout with police killer Christopher Dorner. He said he understood his other job duties as helping UCLA through a peaceful commencement, and providing updates on security operations to Block, who testified before a congressional committee in May about campus efforts to combat antisemitism and manage protests. Block stepped down July 31.

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“I’m the person coming in for just a few months, hopefully fix things, get them moving down the road and then somebody else takes over when I’m gone,” he said.

Braziel said he never agreed to set up the new Office of Campus Safety or prepare a campus response plan for potential fall protests — tasks that each amount to full-time jobs themselves but that many expected him to take on. Creating the safety office, he said, would take several employees many months to create a website, complaint intake process, training curriculum, policies and procedures, compliance auditing, staffing and planning for such future events as the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Braziel said he was given no staff or funding for either job but agreed to extend his contract after receiving approval to hire consultants to do them.

Although launching a campus safety office and protest response plan is still in the works, the UCLA police department’s more active public messaging was visible this week.

In an Oct. 6 video posted on social media, Officer Vanessa Alvarado urged the community in English and Spanish to attend commemoration events in a “responsible and safe manner” and pledged police commitment to safety. On Oct. 7, the department posted protest rules, and updates on traffic conditions around demonstrations, closed walkways and other information. And that evening, Acting Police Chief Scott Scheffler also took to social media to thank the community — an unusual step for what had been a generally close-mouthed police department.

“We heard a lot of different voices today for Oct. 7,” Scheffler said. “I’m proud to say we made no arrests and I want to thank the members of the community who complied with university policy. You were respectful and you made the Bruin community proud.”

It’s all part of Braziel’s efforts to keep UCLA a step ahead of events — which he frequently describes as playing chess, not checkers. The violence of the melee and encampment takedown was predictable, he said, looking at what was happening at Columbia University and other protest hot spots at the time — but UCLA was operating in reactive mode.

“We have to stop playing checkers where you’re waiting for something to happen and respond,” he said. “With chess, you’re constantly looking four, five moves down the board to anticipate what will happen so you can either avoid it or better respond to it.”