Procedurally Just behavior is based on four central principles: 

1. Treating people with dignity and respect 
2. Giving persons voice during encounters 
3. Being neutral and transparent in decision making 
4. Conveying trustworthy motives

UC Santa Cruz Police Department Policies related to this pillar:

UC Santa Cruz Police Department Mission, Vision and Values Statement

201: Community Engagement

339: Hate Crimes 

341: Standards of Conduct

359: Major Incident Notification

369: Limited English Proficiency Services

371: Communications with Persons with Disabilities

391: Department Use of Social Media

393: Community Relations

400: Patrol Function

402: Racial or Bias Based Policing

422: Foreign Diplomatic and Consular Representatives

428: Immigration Violations

470: First Amendment Assemblies

1020: Personnel Complaints

1050: Nepotism and Conflicting Relationships

1056: Performance History Audits

1058: Employee Speech, Expression, and Social Networking

Daily Training Bulletins (DTBs) related/updating standing policies and general orders

UC Santa Cruz Police Department Employee Training Manual

1.1 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement culture should embrace a guardian mindset to build public trust and legitimacy. Toward that end, police and sheriff’s departments should adopt procedural justice as the guiding principle for internal and external policies and practices to guide their interactions with the citizens they serve.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  UC Santa Cruz Police Department members are held to the highest standards congruent with those ideals found in the Procedural Justice Model. We have always embraced the guardian vs. warrior philosophy -- our way of doing business is to understand the importance of implementing peacekeeping, community caretaking, and prudent enforcement of the law -- as our primary role in serving and protecting a university community.  

We see ourselves as community members and work hard as a community resource dedicated to the university mission. Each member of the department is committed to Community Oriented and Problem-Oriented Policing Strategies.  The UC Santa Cruz Police Department provides a wide range of training to highlight and emphasize procedural justice and prepare our officers to work with the public as guardians and protectors.  Department members have attended mandatory Procedural Justice in Policing In‐Service Training. We have incorporated Fair and Impartial Policing training and mediation to engrain this culture within the department further.

1.2 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should acknowledge the role of policing in past and present injustice and discrimination and how it is a hurdle to the promotion of community trust. 

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  The UC Santa Cruz Police Department acknowledges the role of policing in the past and present injustice and discrimination, and how it is a hurdle to promoting community trust.  The department embraces the difficult conversations with our community regarding past and present injustices, discrimination, and how we can work together to build community trust. Conversations within the Chief’s Advisory Board, the Community Police Academy, and events such as BBQ and Badges, Cops and Coffee, and various community forums, workshops, and training opportunities have increased community cooperation and trust. We continue to collaborate with various community groups and administrative departments to further these conversations.

Given that our community is predominantly university students, we have specifically hired Student Ambassadors and interns to increase engagement with student groups to listen and learn from each other.

Moreover, we also acknowledge that public safety is a shared responsibility that cannot be achieved by the police department alone. The effectiveness and quality of our safety efforts require community involvement and partnerships, as well as a real understanding of the response expectations that must be met.

1.2.1 ACTION ITEM: The U.S. Department of Justice should develop and disseminate case studies that provide examples where past injustices were publicly acknowledged by law enforcement agencies in a manner to help build community trust.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this U.S. Department of Justice action item.

1.3 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should establish a culture of transparency and accountability in order to build public trust and legitimacy. This will help ensure decision making is understood and in accord with stated policy.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  Our policies align with the State of California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) regulations and best practices.  We have started the process to pursue accreditation through the  International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) Accreditation standards. We have already incorporated many of their standards into our policy, procedures, and training. 

We initiated a recruitment process to hire an analyst to further the accreditation process at our department.

Moreover, we have developed a department culture that instills a sense of ownership in the Department and University mission and values and a sense of pride in their work on behalf of the students, employees, and visitors.

1.3.1 ACTION ITEM: To embrace a culture of transparency, law enforcement agencies should make all department policies available for public review and regularly post on the department’s website information about stops, summonses, arrests, reported crime, and other law enforcement data aggregated by demographics.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  Our department policies, crime data, employee training plan, and other information are posted at the UC Santa Cruz Police Department website for the public to review.  Timely warnings and emergency notifications, as required by the Clery Act, are also available for public review on our website.  Our crime graphics map can be found here. 

The posting of information is continuously reviewed.  The use of technology is also being evaluated to capture data that could be posted, as well as to meet legal requirements.  UC Santa Cruz is required to post all Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) data pursuant to AB953 (Weber, 2016) by January 2023, if not sooner.  Nonetheless, other stop data is expected to be posted on our webs by October 2020, before RIPA’s deadline.

1.3.2 ACTION ITEM: When serious incidents occur, including those involving alleged police misconduct, agencies should communicate with citizens and the media swiftly, openly, and neutrally, respecting areas where the law requires confidentiality.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  State laws and union contracts vary, and confidentiality laws apply.  Respecting those factors, and the needs of our community, the UC Santa Cruz Police Department strives to communicate with citizens and media quickly when incidents of concern occur. 

Moreover, we are required by the federal Clery Act, and state Student Safety Act (Gatto, AB 1433) to provide emergency notifications and timely warnings to advise the community when serious incidents occur on or near the campus through text message, email, and phone calls. On October 1 each year, we release our annual Clery Act Security and Fire Report, which provides the process for notifying the community. 

We also utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to communicate information. 

1.4 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should promote legitimacy internally within the organization by applying the principles of procedural justice.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  The UC Santa Cruz Police Department recognizes that procedural justice principles are inherent to our organization’s continued growth and improvement.  Officers are expected to use the tenets of procedural justice in interactions with the public, but it is also essential in how the Department interacts with its own members.  

We promote internal legitimacy by using procedural justice to guide discipline policies, training, education, and employee development.  The Chief of Police meets regularly with members to ensure open communication, encourage dialogue, and discuss ways to improve our organization and community engagement and involvement. 

1.4.1 ACTION ITEM: In order to achieve internal legitimacy, law enforcement agencies should involve members in the process of developing policies and procedures.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  We involve our members in organizational change efforts, which can improve implementation and buy-in. By including our members, they are afforded a voice, and transparency is further strengthened internally.  Recent policies and procedures drafted with members and union input include our Body Worn Audio/Video, Use of Force, CCW, and Complaint policies.  

1.4.2 ACTION ITEM: Law enforcement department leadership should examine opportunities to incorporate procedural justice into the internal discipline process, placing additional importance on values adherence rather than adherence to rules. Union leadership should be partners in this process.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  The UC Santa Cruz Police Department partners with members and member unions to promote our mission and values in determining discipline for the greater good for our members and our community.  We recognize our members are human, and missteps and mistakes happen.  Together, work with our members towards having discipline measures encourage exemplary conduct rather than punishment.  

Our mission and values support our guiding principles of adhering to values and not rules, as it is a critical concept to internal and external legitimacy.  Our principles are further enumerated in Constitutional requirements Due Process in the 14th Amendment. We educate, train, and expect our members and police officers, regardless of rank, to consistently do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons despite what is expected, required, or rewarded, for the greater good and benefit to our members, department, and community. 

1.5 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should proactively promote public trust by initiating positive non‐enforcement activities to engage communities that typically have high rates of investigative and enforcement involvement with government agencies.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item. We actively seek and accept invitations by community groups and organizations who typically may have high rates of investigative and enforcement involvement with law enforcement and government agencies.  We engage with the community with the following opportunities and programs: 

• As ongoing non-enforcement activities, we have held community training programs including, but not limited to, active shooter, faculty leadership in the classroom, BBQ and Badges events, Cops and Coffee events, ride-alongs, tabling events, the Clery Act, and much more.
• Our Community Police Academy has been available since 2008.  Our Community Police Academy will be fully integrated into an online class for the Fall 2020 quarter.
• Since 2015, we have hosted self-defense classes for women.
• Community First Aid/CPR/Basic Life Support (BLS) classes have been offered and taken place in our community since 2017
• Our Student Ambassador (SA) program has existed since 2011 and is comprised of UCSC students as employees of our department.
• Our Student Ambassadors help us provide students with a safe and reliable means of transportation on campus during the academic year via our Night Safety Escort Service which managed by the UC Santa Cruz Police Department
• The Chief’s Advisory Board has been in existence since October 2014.  This provided community leaders and administrative department leaders with mechanisms to communicate directly with the Chief of Police, both in and outside board meetings.
• The Chief of Police developed Ask the Chief office hours, whereby any community member could schedule a one-on-one meeting with the Chief of Police.

1.5.1 ACTION ITEM: In order to achieve external legitimacy, law enforcement agencies should involve the community in the process of developing and evaluating policies and procedures. 

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  The UC Santa Cruz Police Department partners with campus organizations, resources, and groups to develop and evaluate policies and procedures.  An example is our collaboration with UCSC Slug Support in Fall 2019 for a temporary housing process for our students during times of crisis.  

Also, many of our policies endure rigorous review through the UC Office of the President. This process allows for feedback from the entire UC community, especially for those adopted for the Universitywide Police Policies and Administrative Procedures. 

1.5.2 ACTION ITEM: Law enforcement agencies should institute residency incentive programs such as Resident Officer Programs.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  However, an officer residence program is not feasible in our community at this time. 

Although the Chief of Police has attempted to adopt such a program for the officers and other professional staff to live on or near the campus, University policy does not allow for staff employees’ special considerations. 

1.5.3 ACTION ITEM: Law enforcement agencies should create opportunities in schools and communities for positive, non‐enforcement interaction with the police. Agencies should also publicize the beneficial outcomes and images of positive, trust-building partnerships and initiatives.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  Our department has implemented programs and opportunities for positive, non-enforcement interaction with police as listed under recommendation 1.5 above. 

Many of these interactions and programs are posted on our website and social media pages.

1.5.4 ACTION ITEM: Use of physical control equipment and techniques against vulnerable populations – including children, elderly persons, pregnant women, people with physical and mental disabilities, limited English proficiency, and others – can undermine public trust and should be used as a last resort. Law enforcement agencies should carefully consider and review their policies towards these populations and adopt policies if none are in place.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  Our policy, combined with training and instruction, outlines when and how force may be used, and what level of force is allowable in situations especially involving vulnerable populations. In addition to use-of-force protocols, the department has established policies for interacting with vulnerable populations, including specialized training, such as the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and maintaining access to language resources.  The UC Santa Cruz Police Department has a sanctity of human life philosophy and continues to complement this with further crisis intervention training.  In use-of-force situations, which can sometimes turn deadly, our department policy, includes de-escalation and supports creating time, distance, and building rapport with the person.

In addition, the department reviews all use of force incidents.  These reviews allow for opportunities to identify deficiencies in policy and training, needed equipment, and helps to focus future responses to similar events with improved de-escalation techniques. 

1.6 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should consider the potential damage to public trust when implementing crime-fighting strategies. Crime reduction is not self‐justifying. Overly aggressive law enforcement strategies can potentially harm communities and do lasting damage to public trust, as numerous witnesses over multiple listening sessions observed.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  

Although we must meet the same legal mandates and requirements as any municipal law enforcement agency, we embrace the fact that we are a community resource and “wear many hats,” developing competencies in areas not traditionally associated with policing.

We subscribe to being guardians rather than warriors, focusing most of our efforts on intervention and caretaking to reduce harm, rather than enforcement.  Our officers are often more trained than municipal agencies, especially to fill multiple roles in the students’ developmental journey.

We are fully engaged in community-oriented policing and problem-solving strategies, the tenets of President Obama’s 21st Century Policing Report, and strive to be transparent, accountable, and collaborative.  We encourage broad dialogue and understand the importance of the university’s academic and research mission and each campus’s distinctive learning environment. 

We value our role as community members and instill in our officers and professional staff a sense of ownership in the shared mission and success of the students and employees. A high percentage of department members are UC or CSU graduates, including the police chief who has risen through the ranks.

We understand that we do not have the exclusive responsibility for public safety, but that we share in this responsibility with the community and other administrative departments on and off campus to address safety and crime concerns. As such, we seek opportunities to build relationships and partnerships, serve on multi-disciplinary teams, workgroups, and collaborative initiatives, as well as attend many community programs with no other agenda than to be present in a positive environment.

Furthermore, the UC Santa Cruz Police Department develops crime-reduction strategies based on trends and voiced citizen concerns. As a practice, the department implements a public education and awareness campaign to gain voluntary compliance and collaboration before taking enforcement action. 

1.6.1 ACTION ITEM: Research conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of crime-fighting strategies should specifically look at the potential for the collateral damage of any given strategy on community trust and legitimacy.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  We continue to evaluate enforcement and operations activities with education  and planning and consider unintended consequences and collateral damage to community trust, relationships, and legitimacy.  

To this end, we seek community feedback and are implementing a formal survey program in partnership with professors from the UC Berkeley Department of Public Policy.

1.7 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should track the level of trust in their police by their communities just as they measure changes in crime. Annual community surveys, ideally standardized across jurisdictions and with accepted sampling protocols, can measure how policing in that community affects trust.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  In October 2019, we partnered with professors from the UC Berkeley Department of Public Policy to create and conduct community surveys, assess and improve our recruitment efforts, and enhance our community engagement practices. A survey will be coming out by October 1, 2020.

We are also reviewing technology to receive real-time feedback from victims, reporting parties, and others once a call for service has been completed.

1.7.1 ACTION ITEM: The Federal Government should develop survey tools and instructions for use of such a model to prevent local departments from incurring the expense and to allow for consistency across jurisdictions.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this Federal Government action item.

1.8 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should strive to create a workforce that contains a broad range of diversity, including race, gender, language, life experience, and cultural background, to improve understanding and effectiveness in dealing with communities.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  We embrace diversity and work hard to recruit police officers from backgrounds as diverse as the community we serve, including race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation.  Community members participate in promotional process boards.  All employees working in the police department must undergo an extensive background check, polygraph examination, and medical and psychological exams. The Chief of Police makes all final selections.

A high percentage of department members are university graduates, especially from the UC or CSU systems.  This includes a lieutenant and the Chief of Police. 

1.8.1 ACTION ITEM: The Federal Government should create a Law Enforcement Diversity Initiative designed to help community’s diversity law enforcement departments to reflect the demographics of the community. 

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this Federal Government action item. The UC Santa Cruz Police Department works diligently to recruit and hire individuals that reflect our community’s demographics. Many of our members received their university degrees from UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, and other UC’s and CSU’s. We actively recruit from student ambassador, cadet, and CSO programs from higher education institutions to meet this recommendation.

1.8.2 ACTION ITEM: The department overseeing this initiative should help localities learn best practices for recruitment, training, and outreach to improve the diversity as well as the cultural and linguistic responsiveness of law enforcement.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this Federal Government action item.  Our department members come from diverse cultural backgrounds and can speak other languages such as Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Mandarin. 

1.8.3 ACTION ITEM: Successful law enforcement agencies should be highlighted and celebrated, and those with less diversity should be offered technical assistance to facilitate change.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this Federal Government action item.  In addition, we abide by and exceed the University’s goals on affirmative action and diversity. 

1.8.4 ACTION ITEM: Discretionary federal funding for law enforcement programs could be influenced by that department’s efforts to improve their diversity and cultural-linguistic responsiveness.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this Federal Government action item.  In addition, the University is exploring funding and additional methods to increase diversity within the police department.

1.8.4 ACTION ITEM: Law enforcement agencies should be encouraged to explore more flexible staffing models

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  The UC Santa Cruz Police Department regularly explores various staffing models to ensure appropriate staffing is achieved throughout the organization.  

1.9 RECOMMENDATION: Law enforcement agencies should build relationships based on trust with Immigrant communities. This is central to overall public safety.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this recommendation item.  We regularly seek out and collaborate with our immigrant community groups and organizations to build relationships built on trust, interaction, and understanding. 

We have employed 24 Police Student Ambassadors, assisting us in building relationships with various community groups and organizations, including immigrant communities and international students. These Student Ambassadors help to bridge connections and work with their peers from these communities to develop mutual understanding and trust from various sponsored programs and events.

For example, we have sponsored and participated in several educational and outreach programs with our AB 540 and undocumented students, as well as with many student organizations including but not limited to the Muslim Student Association, Indian Student Association, Black Men’s Alliance, and other Latinx focused fraternities and sororities.

1.9.1 ACTION ITEM: Decouple federal immigration enforcement from routine local policing for civil enforcement and non-serious crime.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this action item.  Our Police Department and UC Santa Cruz policies prohibit profiling and discrimination and have an Immigration Policy that prohibits enforcement of immigration violations.

1.9.2 ACTION ITEM: Law enforcement agencies should ensure reasonable and equitable language access for all persons who have encounters with the police or who enter the criminal justice system.

The UC Santa Cruz  Police Department supports this action item.  In addition to multi-lingual members, the UC Santa Cruz Police Department uses a third party Language Line phone service to accommodate other languages within the community 24/7.

The University of California Office of the President also utilizes a third party phone service to receive complaints and commendations about police department employees in multiple languages. These reports are then sent to the police department to follow up.

1.9.3 ACTION ITEM: U.S. Department of Justice should remove civil immigration information from the FBI’s National Crime Information Center Database.

The UC Santa Cruz Police Department supports this U.S. Department of Justice action item.