Throughout March, we have continued sketching models for how to move units from their existing “homes” in the University’s organizational structure to the future Division of Campus Community Safety. We also launched the search for a new UW Police Department leader.
When not drafting, erasing and re-drawing org chart boxes or tracking down job codes, we research “reimagining.” The UW’s efforts to reimagine public safety are not happening in a vacuum — there is much we can learn from other communities across our nation who are asking the same kinds of questions. As we approach the two-year mark of George Floyd’s murder by Derek Chauvin, the push nationwide to reexamine community safety in towns, cities, counties and campuses remains high-profile and widespread. Jurisdictions and advocates for alternative models continue to drill down into past failures and propose changes to ensure appropriate screening of calls for help and dispatch of effective services.
If you are invested in campus community safety, we invite you to join us in learning from this boarder conversation. The following are just a few examples of the many, many articles and projects on reimagining definitions of safe communities and safety services:
- American Progress – The Community Responder Model
- The Atlantic – The Stumbling block to one of the most promising police reforms
- Smart Cities Dive – Los Angeles moves forward with diverting some 911 calls to mental health professionals
Thank yous: We’d like to extend a big thank you to the following groups for discussions this past month:
- UW Medicine faculty Council on Research and Graduate Education
- Health Sciences Facilities security staff
- 2021 Non-Police Crisis Response ad hoc committee
- School of Public Health doctoral students
- Alternative Emergency Services student advocates