UCLA Police Chief Temporarily Reassigned Amid Criticism Over Protest Security Handling

Los Angeles, California United States of America
Gawin Gibson named acting chief of UCLA Police Department, Rick Braziel to lead new Office of Campus Safety
Thomas allegedly canceled requests for outside police assistance from other campus departments before the attack
UCLA Police Chief John Thomas temporarily reassigned amid criticism over protest security handling
Violent melee on April 30 saw counterprotesters instigating attacks on pro-Palestinian demonstrators
UCLA Police Chief Temporarily Reassigned Amid Criticism Over Protest Security Handling

UCLA Police Chief John Thomas, who had been under criticism for the university's handling of security during recent pro-Palestinian protests, has been temporarily reassigned from his duties. The decision comes as UCLA examines its security processes following a violent melee on April 30 that saw dozens of counterprotesters instigating attacks on pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Thomas, who previously served various roles at USC's Department of Public Safety including police captain, assistant chief, executive director and chief, had been in the position since January. He was appointed after serving as interim chief since December 2022.

The university canceled in-person classes the day after the attack and pushed back midterm exams due to the disruption caused by the violence. Chancellor Gene Block has been summoned to Washington by a Republican-led House committee to testify about antisemitism and UCLA's handling of the protests on May 23.

Thomas was allegedly criticized for canceling requests for outside police assistance from other campus departments in the days leading up to the April 30 attack. The Los Angeles Times reported that he learned of his reassignment late on May 21 and did not elaborate on where he had been reassigned.

Gawin Gibson, who has worked in UCPD for over 28 years and most recently served as UCPD's operations bureau captain, has been named the acting chief of the campus police department. Rick Braziel, a former Sacramento police chief with more than 30 years of public safety experience, will lead a new Office of Campus Safety that will oversee the UCLA Police Department.

The union representing University of California police officers placed blame for the protest response on school administration and not the police department. The Federated University Peace Officers Association issued a statement saying, “The UCLA administration owns the failure of any protest response, and the public should reject their attempts to shift blame to law enforcement.”

UCLA students are returning to campus for in-person classes after more than a week of remote learning and sporadic disruptions following the dismantling of a pro-Palestinian encampment and some 200 arrests on April 30.


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Confidence

86%

Doubts
  • Was the decision to reassign Thomas solely based on criticism over protest security handling?
  • Were there any other factors contributing to the violence on April 30?

Sources

97%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

UCLA Police Chief Reassigned in the Wake of a Pro-Palestinian Protest Melee

The Name Of The NZ Prefix. I PWA NZI.P.Was Dropped. Corina Knoll Wednesday, 22 May 2024 17:43
  • Unique Points
    • University of California, Los Angeles officials are examining law enforcement failures during recent campus protests
    • Dozens of counterprotesters instigated the attack and many were not students based on videos of the incident
    • No arrests were made that night despite the arrival of Los Angeles Police Department officers
  • Accuracy
    • UCLA campus police chief John Thomas has been removed from his post temporarily while the university examines its security processes
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

96%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

UCLA Police Chief John Thomas 'temporarily reassigned' from duties

Daily Bruin Tuesday, 21 May 2024 00:00
  • Unique Points
    • Thomas previously served various roles at USC’s Department of Public Safety including police captain, assistant chief, executive director and chief.
  • Accuracy
    • UCLA named Gawin Gibson as acting chief of the UCPD on Wednesday.
    • Gibson has worked in UCPD for over 28 years and most recently served as UCPD’s operations bureau captain.
    • Thomas was temporarily reassigned from his duties as chief on Monday.
    • UCLA created a new Office of Campus Safety and named Rick Braziel its inaugural associate vice chancellor, overseeing UCPD and the Office of Emergency Management.
    • Chancellor Gene Block will testify about antisemitism and UCLA’s handling of the Palestine solidarity encampment on campus in front of the US House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce.
    • Thomas was appointed UCPD chief in January 2023 after serving as interim chief since December 2022.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

95%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

UCLA reassigns police chief amid criticism of response to violence at pro-Palestinian protests

ABC7 News (KABC-TV / ABC7 Los Angeles) Wednesday, 22 May 2024 17:48
  • Unique Points
    • UCLA Police Chief John Thomas has been reassigned following criticism of his department's response during clashes at a pro-Palestinian demonstration on campus.
    • Chief Thomas was temporarily reassigned pending an examination of security processes.
    • UCLA announced the creation of a new chief safety officer position to oversee campus security operations.
    • Thomas told the Los Angeles Times he did ‘everything I could’ to provide security and keep students safe during protests, but his response was criticized and prompted a review of campus security procedures.
    • Rick Braziel, a former Sacramento police chief, will lead a new Office of Campus Safety that will oversee the UCLA Police Department.
    • UCLA students are returning to campus for in-person classes after more than a week of remote learning and sporadic disruptions following the dismantling of a pro-Palestinian encampment and some 200 arrests on April 30.
    • Chancellor Gene Block has been summoned to Washington by a Republican-led House committee to testify about the protests on the Westwood campus.
    • The union representing University of California police officers placed blame for the protest response on school administration, not the police department.
  • Accuracy
    • No arrests were made that night despite the arrival of Los Angeles Police Department officers.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (85%)
    The article reports on the reassignment of UCLA's police chief without attributing the action to any specific fallacies. However, it does present inflammatory rhetoric and a dichotomous depiction by quoting statements that criticize the police chief's handling of protests without providing counter-arguments or context. The article also references an external source that accuses the school administration of failing to respond to protests properly, which could be seen as an appeal to authority.
    • . . . his response was roundly criticized and prompted Chancellor Gene Block to order a review of campus security procedures.
    • Chief John Thomas was temporarily reassigned Tuesday "pending an examination of our security processes,"
    • The union representing University of California police officers issued a statement saying the blame for the protest response should be placed on school administration, not the police department, because of campus policy.
    • What unfolded at UCLA calls into question whether UCLA complied with the guidelines to have in place senior administrators trained in crowd control response, with written plans for response that were the product of scenario training and consultation with its police department and outside law enforcement agencies. The response to protests appears ad hoc and devoid of the structured planning mandated by the UC system.
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

76%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

UCLA police chief reassigned after security failures over protests

The Los Angeles Times Teresa Watanabe, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 15:38
  • Unique Points
    • UCLA Police Chief John Thomas has been reassigned after facing criticism for security failures during a pro-Palestinian encampment protest.
    • Rick Braziel, associate vice chancellor, informed Thomas that he would be reassigned while internal and external investigations examine campus security shortfalls.
    • Several top LAPD leaders criticized Thomas’s lack of planning and poor communication with other agencies.
  • Accuracy
    • No arrests were made that night despite the arrival of Los Angeles Police Department officers.
    • Thomas was temporarily reassigned from his duties as chief on Monday.
  • Deception (30%)
    The article contains selective reporting and emotional manipulation. The authors focus on the security failures during the pro-Palestinian protests at UCLA and the subsequent reassignment of Police Chief John Thomas. They quote sources criticizing Thomas for his handling of the situation, but do not provide any counter-perspective or context from Thomas himself or other sources defending him. This creates a biased narrative that manipulates emotions by portraying Thomas as incompetent and responsible for the violence at the encampment. Additionally, they selectively report details that support their narrative, such as the lack of a written safety plan and delayed response from law enforcement, while omitting information that contradicts it, like Thomas's attempts to call for help and arrival on campus shortly before midnight. This selective reporting further contributes to the deceptive nature of the article.
    • Given Chief Thomas’s mishandling of keeping our community safe and ear-splitting calls for him to step aside, this had to happen.
    • Several top LAPD leaders told The Times that Thomas had tarnished the reputation of Los Angeles law enforcement with what they called his lack of planning and poor communication with other agencies.
    • Thomas had lost confidence within UCLA and among some outside law enforcement officials, who have criticized what they said was the police chief’s lack of proper planning, coordination and communication in creating a campus safety plan and securing enough officers to carry it out should violence occur at the encampment.
  • Fallacies (85%)
    The article contains several examples of appeals to authority and inflammatory rhetoric. It also dichotomously depicts the police chief and his critics, presenting their views as mutually exclusive without considering nuance or context. However, no formal fallacies are present in the text.
    • Several top LAPD leaders told The Times that Thomas had tarnished the reputation of Los Angeles law enforcement with what they called his lack of planning and poor communication with other agencies.
    • But one UC source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Thomas and other officers should have moved in to stop the violence with the forces they had. In the case of active shooter situations, the source said, police used to wait for a larger force with sharpshooting expertise to assemble, but now move in more quickly to save those in danger.
    • The response to protests appears ad hoc and devoid of the structured planning mandated by the UC system.
    • For the record: 5:06 p.m. May 22, 2024An earlier version of this article said Thomas previously served in the Washington, D.C., Police Department. He served as the deputy chief of police and emergency management at the University of the District of Columbia.
  • Bias (80%)
    The authors use language that depicts the actions of UCLA Police Chief John Thomas as inadequate and poor, implying a bias against him. They also quote sources criticizing Thomas for his lack of planning and communication, which further reinforces this bias.
    • But one UC source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Thomas and other officers should have moved in to stop the violence with the forces they had.
      • Given Chief Thomas’ mishandling of keeping our community safe and ear-splitting calls for him to step aside, this had to happen.
        • Several top LAPD leaders told The Times that Thomas had tarnished the reputation of Los Angeles law enforcement with what they called his lack of planning and poor communication with other agencies.
        • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
          None Found At Time Of Publication
        • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
          None Found At Time Of Publication