Parents raise $40k for private campus security, unsatisfied with UC Berkeley approach to crime
Parents of students at the University of California, Berkeley have reportedly raised $40,000 in an effort to reduce crime on campus by employing a private security group.
A school spokesperson reportedly said that 'university funds are better spent hiring more sworn or non-sworn UCPD officers for standard daily response efforts.'
Parents of students at the University of California, Berkeley have reportedly raised $40,000 in an effort to reduce crime on campus by employing a private security group called SafeBears.
“We are 1,300+ Cal parents and community allies working to improve safety for UC Berkeley students through strategic planning, advocacy, and outreach to campus administration, student organizations, local law enforcement, city government, and safety experts at universities across the country,” the organization’s website states. SafeBears was launched last spring to encourage the university to improve campus safety.
Though the initial SafeBears program only lasted from March 6-23 during 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m., a video published by The Berkeley Scanner displayed the group in action, stopping an assailant in the middle of attacking a woman on the ground.
”We’re horrified that this happened,” SafeBears President and UC Berkeley parent Sagar Jethani told the outlet. “But it’s also significant that one of our private security guards was able to take a bad situation and stop it from getting worse.”
A UC Berkeley spokesperson told Fox News Digital that, “Hiring private security raises a number of concerns including the training and experience of individuals hired by such firms.”
”We believe that university funds are better spent hiring more sworn or non-sworn UCPD officers for standard daily response efforts,” the individual reported stated. “We do not believe that private security should take precedence over hiring sworn officers. In addition, a holistic approach to campus safety is required and is the most effective approach.”
SafeBears President Sagar Jethani also told Fox News how the school engages in “false advertising” about safety on Berkeley’s campus.
“Instead of fretting about whether our safety ambassadors are properly trained, the UC Berkeley administration should worry that violent attacks against students like this are happening all the time,” Jethani stated.
In a ranking from delmarva now, UC Berkeley ranked the highest out of any school in the nation for criminal offenses based upon data from the Education Department in 2022. The school witnessed 719 incidents, having 203 incidents more than number two on the list, the University of Southern California.
UC Berkeley’s campus crimes included 382 motor vehicle thefts, 104 burglaries, 108 incidents of aggravated assault, 52 robberies, 21 incidents of arson, 24 incidents of fondling, and 28 incidents of rape.
“It became increasingly disturbing when my peers would talk about being held up by gunpoint or assaulted walking home from a library like these were expected interactions”, Tyleer Mahomes, a UC Berkeley student, told Fox News Digital.
According to the SafeBears website, the group’s priorities for campus safety include a “[v]isible security presence,” fences guarding student housing, longer hours for dorm security, “safety ambassadors,” reduced rates after dark for transportation like rideshares, improved security cameras, a “dedicated security fund,” improved lighting near student housing, as well as student safety training programs.
Campus Reform has contacted UC Berkeley and SafeBears for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
