Launch of UCLA’s Threat Response Task Force

Campus Update

Chancellor Block shared the following message with the UCLA campus community.

Dear Bruin Community:

Earlier this quarter, when a person in Colorado made violent threats and hateful comments towards members of our campus, UCPD worked with other law enforcement agencies to quickly investigate and have the individual taken into custody. While this was the best outcome we could have hoped for, the experience offers an opportunity to thoroughly review what worked well and what could be improved when it comes to evaluating threats and notifying the campus in emergency situations. As an institution committed to the safety of all Bruins, we owe our community nothing less.

That’s why, in the days after the incident, I called for the creation of a task force to comprehensively assess our campus protocols for responding to threats. That task force began its work in February. It will look at how information about threats is evaluated by entities including UCPD, our Behavioral Intervention Team, Consultation & Response Team, UCLA Health Threat Assessment Team and others. The task force will also look into when and how campus leaders and the broader community are made aware of potential threats, the platforms we use to notify the campus, and the effectiveness of different types of messaging.

Members of the Threat Response Task Force include:

• Steve Yeazell, David G. Price and Dallas P. Price Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus (Chair)
• Musibau “Francis” Jimoh, Graduate Student Association president
• Breeze Velazquez, Undergraduate Students Association Council president
• Robert Pynoos, professor of psychiatry
• Ana Esquivel, incoming Staff Assembly president
• Lucy Tseng, staff advisor to the UC Regents

Additional information about the task force can be found on the Threat Response Task Force website. The task force welcomes questions and comments from the campus community, and can be reached by email at trtf@ucla.edu.

I have asked for a final report from the Threat Response Task Force by the end of the summer. That report will be shared publicly when it is complete.

Threats to our community are an unfortunate reality that institutions like UCLA encounter, and thoughtful evaluations of past incidents and protocols are essential. I am grateful that this task force will help us ensure the timely assessment of real and perceived risks and the effectiveness of our emergency notification efforts during challenging situations.

Sincerely,