The University of California, Davis has announced a 'defunding' of its police department, eliminating three vacant positions and switching three sworn officers to more 'non-traditional' roles.
The change was inspired by a task force, established last summer during widespread unrest after the police killings of George Floyd and others, to decide 'how the university's Police Department should evolve to look, operate and engage.'
It comes a decade after an infamous 2011 incident where campus police pepper sprayed students who were sitting on the pavement as part of an Occupy protest.
The university, located just outside Sacramento, had 134 total crime incidents in October, including one forcible rape and 82 cases of theft.
UC Davis, just outside of Sacramento, announced it is 'defunding' its police department and retraining sworn officers as 'non traditional' staff that will roll up in electric vehicles
The college says the changes are in response to last year's police killings and unrest, along with a 2011 incident in which officers pepper sprayed Occupy protesters on campus
In a statement last Tuesday, the university said it will ax three vacant police jobs.
Instead, it will divert the funds to hire a public safety policy analyst in Student Affairs; an analyst position to support data, accreditation and transparency efforts in the police department; and a new position dedicated to the Health 34 initiative - which trains fire personnel to respond to mental health calls.
Three current sworn officers will be retrained as 'CORE' officers.
'When called, an officer in plain clothes will arrive in an electric vehicle or on a bike. The officer will be able to answer questions and concerns, advise on a range of law enforcement issues, and connect you with the resources you need,' according to a UC Davis page on the CORE program.
Last year, the Next Generation Campus Safety Task Force - made up of students, faculty, staff and alums - began meeting to discuss the 'future of policing' after 'the horrible police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and a growing number of African Americans,' according to the school.
As part of the task force's recommendations, the school began the process of 'defunding,' or redirecting funds away from, the police department.
On Thursday, anti-police protesters on campus vandalized sidewalks in support of the move
A cardboard cutout of a pic outside of a campus building reads: 'We will outlive policing'
In October, the 8.3 sq mi campus had
