Chancellor Frenk shared this message with the UCLA campus community.
Dear Bruin Community:
Now more than ever, it is important that we stay connected and look for ways to build community and a culture in which everyone feels safe, respected and welcome on campus.
Last May, UCLA established the Office of Campus and Community Safety — reporting directly to the chancellor — to serve as a dedicated unit that coordinates the university’s safety initiatives. Rick Braziel served in a temporary capacity to help lead this unit and today, we are announcing the permanent leader of this office: UCLA alum Steve Lurie (‘94).
Lurie will take up the role of associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety effective Feb. 1, 2025, and comes to this position with nearly three decades of law enforcement experience. His track record — combined with his leadership experience, firsthand knowledge of our campus and academic insights as an adjunct professor of law — make him uniquely qualified to lead UCLA’s efforts to strengthen and connect our campus safety initiatives. He will take a community-informed, collaborative approach to campus safety that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of those who call UCLA home. Our goal is to ensure that our policies and practices are not only effective but also equitable, respecting the safety, rights and well-being of all Bruins.
Prior to this role, Lurie worked for the LAPD for 27 years, most recently serving as a commander, assigned as the assistant commanding officer of West Bureau. At the LAPD, he managed five police divisions on the westside of Los Angeles and led more than 1,500 police professionals who served a population of 940,000 Angelenos. Before this, he served as a commander in the Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy.
Lurie was selected to lead a citywide incident management team that responds to and secures major events in the region. He has planned for and served as the incident commander for numerous presidential visits, public demonstrations, the Academy Awards and other entertainment industry ceremonies, Super Bowl LVI, and the recent Dodgers World Series victory parade and celebration. As a community-focused police executive, Lurie consistently established and improved relationships between the LAPD and the diverse communities it serves. He has received awards and accolades for leadership and service from senior government officials, neighborhood councils and community non-profit organizations.
Lurie is a Bruin alum who graduated in 1994 with a B.A. in cultural anthropology. His very first job in public safety was serving as an undergraduate community service officer with the UCLA Police Department.
Lurie previously served as an adjunct professor of law at Loyola and Pepperdine law schools and currently teaches in the criminal justice master’s program at the University of Southern California. He has been a member of the California State Bar for 22 years. In 2016, he graduated from the FBI National Academy, widely regarded as the world’s top law enforcement executive training program.
This is an important appointment as we continue to build a campus culture centered on well-being and trust, and I am confident Lurie will find new ways to strengthen connections throughout our Bruin community and foster a safe, secure environment for our students, faculty and staff. Please join me in thanking Rick for his service and welcoming Steve back to campus.
We are One UCLA.
Julio Frenk
Chancellor