LAPD veteran will lead UCLA safety office

Topline:

Why it matters: The office oversees the UCLA police chief and reports directly to the UCLA chancellor, a change made after UCLA and outside police agencies cleared protestors’ encampment in May 2024. An independent audit released in November 2024 found that miscommunication between UCLA’s top leaders and outside police agencies before the encampment was cleared and 200 arrests were carried out.

LAPD experience: Prior to this appointment, Lurie worked for the LAPD for 27 years, most recently serving as assistant commanding officer of West Bureau. According to an LAPD review of its own role in the UCLA protests, Lurie helped coordinate the police response to campus unrest.

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Protestors want different approach: UCLA Professor Graeme Blair, with the group Faculty for Justice in Palestine, told LAist that the clearing the encampment in May violated free speech rights and said the group opposed Lurie’s appointment, seeing it as a continuation of a hard-line approach to protestors.

Go deeper:

• UCLA police chief out one month after scathing audit
• UCLA’s response to campus protests was inefficient, unclear and occasionally chaotic, audit finds
• Police in riot gear clear UCLA encampment, firing flash bangs and arresting protesters