乱伦社区

Throughout March, we have continued sketching models for how to move units from their existing 鈥渉omes鈥� in the University鈥檚 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 鈥渞eimagining.鈥� The UW鈥檚 efforts to reimagine public safety are not happening in a vacuum 鈥� 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鈥檚 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:

Thank yous: We鈥檇 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

After the initial two months of work reimagining and reorganizing, a couple of questions come up regarding the latter: 鈥淲hy move SafeCampus into the new Division of Campus Community Safety? How will that improve outcomes?鈥�

Better outcomes for students, staff and faculty will need to be proven year after year (we鈥檒l talk metrics in future updates), but there is a theory behind the move, a theory grounded in contemporary debate about how to change the culture of safety services, including expectations of policing.

For those who are unfamiliar, SafeCampus is the University鈥檚 violence prevention and response program. Trained staff serve a safety planning and threat assessment function for students, staff and faculty where ever they may be. That means they not only support UW community members at the UW鈥檚 three campuses and hospitals, but also students and personnel studying or working outside the United States and even on board UW鈥檚 ships at sea. In addition, SafeCampus staff provide important training in violence prevention, and in prevention of sexual harassment and gender discrimination for academic student employees and post docs. Calls to SafeCampus can be made anonymously.

The SafeCampus focus on violence prevention, employing deep listening and paying heightened attention to the experiences and concerns of people of color and people with typically marginalized identities aligns with long-standing calls to reimagine how cities, towns, colleges and universities think about the spectrum of safety needs and effective services.

Under the new Division of Campus Community Safety, SafeCampus will do everything that it does now, but as the cultural heart of a division dedicated to the present and future of campus safety. The SafeCampus manager will be an administrative direct report to a vice president rather than multiple levels down in a division and competing with a raft of other priorities. Nothing changes about when and how SafeCampus communicates case details. SafeCampus would not work cases with UW Police any more than it does now 鈥� when a serious threat is identified and requires a broader team approach to prevention and intervention.

Ultimately, the move elevates attention to violence prevention and alternative responses to crises. This is core for reimagining the now and future of public safety.

Thank yous: A big thank you to the teams and individuals who took time to meet in February, including:

• LiveWell (home to the UW鈥檚 confidential advocates)
• Student Conduct Office
• Faculty Council on Gender Equity and Justice
• UWPD officers and sergeants at Feb. 2 roll calls

Furthering the conversation: focuses on the work of Yale professor and psychologist Philip Ariba Goff who studies the relationship between race and policing in the United States. In an hour, it covers a lot of ground regarding expectations of police, the expectations we have of each other, and what progress can look like. It鈥檚 a great listen.

After a formal launch by President Cauce in December, the 乱伦社区鈥檚 rethinking of expectations and approaches to safety services for people and places is underway. This work is the result of years of listening sessions and dialogue about both the decentralized way the University approaches safety-related programs and policing, and it takes place in the greater context of the national reckoning with race and policing. It also recognizes that the ongoing pandemic presents further challenges for emergency planning and resiliency. While this project will have important near-term milestones, the reimagining work will be long-term; sustained and carried over the years to test potential solutions. The goal is to facilitate holistic planning, prevention, intervention and resiliency through a division focused solely on the safety of campus communities.

A holistic and accountable approach to safety must be responsive to the different needs and the different experiences 鈥� some negative 鈥� that various community members have had with safety resources and personnel. It must also consider experiences both on and off our campuses. In the near-term, the Campus Community Safety Project will focus on the reorganization of safety-related units (including how to support safety efforts at all three campuses and UW Medicine sites) and building a framework for how the UW better plans for, prevents, intervenes and supports recovery in a variety of situations. Consultation with students, faculty and staff is an integral part of the near-term and long-term work. In January, initial, high-level conversations were started with a variety of groups and key staff, including:

• The Student Wellbeing Collaborative
• The Faculty Council on Race, Equity & Justice
• SafeCampus
• Emergency Management
• OMA&D Student Advisory Board
• Tri-Campus Advisory Board
• School of Medicine
• UWPD leadership and communications staff

Thank you to all who shared your experiences and perspectives during these discussions. Additional staff discussions and wider-audience workshops related to this project are still to come. The Campus Community Safety Project homepage includes a feedback form (below) if you have thoughts or questions.