Security and Law Enforcement Dominates UCLA’s Expenses During Protests
The University of California of Los Angeles (UCLA) spent a total of over $12 million on the campus protests that took place this spring, as reported by The Daily Bruin. The UC system spent $29.1 million in total, so UCLA’s $12.3 million, the largest total of all the schools in the California state system, is roughly 41% of the UC total. In comparison, the school with the next highest total, UC Berkeley, spent $8 million.
UCLA’s financial allocation during the protests was heavily skewed towards security and law enforcement, with a staggering $ 11,781,917 spent on this aspect. This figure includes private security, overtime for school employees, and the deployment of police from other municipal areas like Culver City and Beverly Hills. In stark contrast, only $471,760 was allocated for campus cleaning, as estimated by the UCLA Compliance Office. The total of the costs represents 8% of the income generated by the school’s investments in 2023.
The spending on security and law enforcement is probably still lower than it could have been had UCLA brought in law enforcement earlier in the night of April 30 and May 1, before Mayor Bass sent in the LAPD in the early morning hours. This unfathomable decision and lack of action to protect the Palestine Solidarity Encampment and the students and faculty within it may well cost them more in the future. While private security guards stood by as the enraged mob of 100 men attacked the encampment and as news helicopters broadcast the beatings and violence live on television, the cost to the school’s reputation and coffers long term might be more serious.
Still, as The Los Angeles Times reported, some UC Regents have floated the idea that the school system should demand reimbursement from student protesters. Rick Braziel, the newly appointed associate vice chancellor for the Office of Campus Safety, blamed lack of planning for UCLA’s botched response to the uncontrolled violence and mayhem committed by counter-protesters, most of whom have still not been brought to justice. He said, as quoted by The Daily Bruin, “If we do our planning right, just the mere fact we’re planning to have a more efficient, effective response, we’re going to reduce costs.”
The school’s Vice-Chancellor Darnell Hunt, who will be the interim chancellor starting on August 1, told the student protest groups that “safety” required calling in the LAPD in force on the night of May 1. It seems puzzling that only one night before, the police needed to protect students and arrest the pro-Israeli attackers were not available, but less than 12 hours later, a large police force was able to storm the encampment and arrest 200 people.
A member of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine, Graeme Blair, quoted by The Daily Bruin, said in a statement, “We should spend precious California tax dollars on teaching and learning. Not punishing our students for standing up for their beliefs and the Palestinian people.”
