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University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Police Chief John Thomas, accused of serious security lapses in failing to protect students during a brawl at a pro-Palestinian camp last spring, has lost his job at the university. He has resigned, the Campus Police Department announced Wednesday night.
UCLA Police Department said in a post on social media platform X that Thomas’ last day at UCLA was Tuesday. UCLA Police Department Lt. Scott Scheffler will serve as interim police chief until a permanent chief is selected, according to the post.
The post did not elaborate on whether Thomas resigned voluntarily or was fired. Vice Chancellor Rick Brazile, head of the newly created Office of Campus Safety, informed Thomas after the melee that he would be reassigned while internal and external investigators looked into security lapses on campus. . During the early May violence, UCLA students and protest campers had to defend themselves from their attackers for three hours before law enforcement was called in to quell the riot.
Brazil did not respond to questions on Wednesday about whether Thomas had been fired, saying it had no statement.
Mr. Thomas could not be reached for comment. He told the Times in May that he “did everything I could” to provide security and keep students safe during the week-long conflict that rocked UCLA.
He advised leadership from the beginning not to allow the camp because it violates campus rules prohibiting night camping, and could pose problems in assessing other protests spreading across the country. He said he was concerned that there was.
He said university leadership decided to allow the tents to be set up “as an expression of students’ First Amendment rights” and directed that police not be included in any security plans. He also told the Times that he made a plan that relied on private security to ensure that the Los Angeles Police Department was alerted to the need to respond immediately if there was a problem. Thomas said he provided daily briefings to campus leaders on the latest situation, resource numbers, response protocols and role assignments for deployed personnel.
But an independent review of the University of California released last month found that a “deeply chaotic” decision-making process, poor communication between campus leaders and police, and other deficiencies led to the institution’s paralysis, leading to UCLA protecting students. It turned out that it couldn’t be done.
The study, conducted by a national law enforcement consulting organization, found that while encampments on other campuses have sometimes resulted in violent clashes and the problem was “reasonably foreseeable,” UCLA It turned out that there was no detailed plan in place to deal with large-scale protests. Campus police lacked an effective plan to coordinate with outside law enforcement agencies and were unable to assume command on the night of the melee, leaving the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol to devise an ad hoc response. Ta.
This review recommended ways to modify future responses to campus disturbances and emergencies. Brazil has begun to address these shortcomings by overhauling UCLA’s security and safety operations.
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