2022-2023 Los Rios Safety Plan Summary
Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our students and employees, and the Los Rios Police Department (LRPD) is committed to working closely with college and district leaders to ensure that our campuses are safe and welcoming environments. Over the past months, LRPD has begun development of a plan to address critical areas of our safety plans, including, but not limited to, staffing and mental health services. This work is ongoing, and we always seek feedback and input from students, faculty, and staff during planning discussions.
A New Model of Policing
In aftermath of the George Floyd murder and consistent with our organizational commitment to equity and social justice, LRPD has committed to becoming a statewide leader for a new, more inclusive policing model. Guided by the principles of Campaign Zero, Los Rios has made extraordinary progress in implementing reforms and continues to work towards these objectives.
Staffing
LRPD remains committed to creating a safe environment for all students in the context of Campaign Zero reforms. There remains a role for sworn officers on our campuses, but appropriate training is critical and sworn officers must be supplemented with other safety officers and supports for students to ensure we have the holistic coverage to keep our campuses safe.
Additionally, there is still less activity on our campuses than before the pandemic (classes and services are shifting on ground each semester, based on student demand) and LRPD, like police agencies all around our and nation, has been unable to hire enough officers to meet previous staffing levels (LRPD shifted away from being a "second chance department" several years ago, with a greater focus on quality candidates).
Further, even if we sought to work with local agencies to supplement sworn officer numbers, no regional partners have the staffing and resources to support a partnership of that nature.
With that as the backdrop, the following is a chart outlining 2021-2022 staffing levels and the 2022-2023 planned staffing levels (as well as other supplemental resources):
| Position | 2021-2022 Staffing and Resources | Planned 2022-2023 Staffing and Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Police Chief | 1 | 1 |
| Police Captains | 3 | 4 |
| Police Sergeants | 3 | 4 |
| Patrol (sworn) | 4 | 10 |
| Campus Safety Officers (non-sworn) | 4 | 20 |
| Campus Patrols (non-sworn) | 30 | 60 |
| Contract Security | None | As Needed |
| Mental Health Services | Online/Referral | On-Campus Presence |
Notes: The planned 2022-2023 staffing level is not permanent, and we will constantly reassess safety issues on our campuses and our ability to hire and retain excellent officers. Contract security will be secured by colleges, primarily for large events and off-hour campus patrol.
Embedded Mental Health Services
Our crisis response must be broader and more holistic than just a team of sworn and non-sworn officers and should involve the entire campus community. That's why our colleges are working to expand mental health services on our campuses to include a cadre of diverse and culturally responsive resources on hand for timely interventions when situations arise that could be de-escalated by a trained mental health expert. These experts will also have a strong linkage to existing and expanded campus mental health resources as well as LRPD and can support students in crisis in a side-by-side manner that resolves both the immediate safety concerns and the ongoing support that student likely needs.
The exact model for these resources is still under development, but we expect to have experts at each college that can be deployed either by the college administration (if there is a student or employee in crisis) or by LRPD (if there be a call to police that would be better handled by those with particular expertise in mental health). We are excited to implement this model and provide valuable resources to our students and community.