Police Advisory Board

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department has had a Police Community Advisory Board since Fall 2014. Since its inception, the Advisory Board grew to over 40 community members, and informed community policing decisions on a broad range of issues impacting the UC Santa Cruz community.

With the release of the recommendations from the Report of the Presidential Task Force on Universitywide Policing, which our Chief of Police was a member of, the Advisory Board will transition to reporting to the Chancellor's Office, beginning on July 1, 2020.

Specifically, recommendations 15 and 16 address Advisory Boards.

RECOMMENDATION 15: Campuses shall create independent advisory boards with representatives from the campus who can facilitate and enhance communication between the police department and the greater campus community as well as work collaboratively with the departments on issues involving campus safety and security.
  • Each independent advisory board will report to a chancellor’s designee and will have access to publicly available reports, data and campus surveys related to the police departments. 
  • The boards will include, at a minimum, faculty, staff and student representatives and will also include at least one ex officio member from the police department.  
  • The boards will serve as campus liaisons to facilitate engagement between the campus community and their corresponding police departments. 
  • Board members shall receive an initial briefing as well as continuous education on the relevant laws and issues related to policing including the existing training standards and policies. 
  • The boards should collaborate with UCPD in creating shared learning environments where officers and members of the campus community interact and learn together. 
  • The boards should prepare annual reports of their activities. 

RECOMMENDATION 16: Those campuses with existing advisory boards that differ from the independent advisory boards described above will transition to the recommended model within 2 years.

With this transition, the Advisory Board within the Police Department will cease to exist, but the Department is committed to working with the Chancellor and the new board to determine how best we can meet the needs of our faculty, staff, students, patients, and visitors.