Community board report identifies steps for reimagining campus public safety

A new report from Stanford’s Community Board on Public Safety builds on recommendations for improving public safety detailed in its initial report in 2021.

Stanford established the panel in June 2020 to recommend ways to address safety concerns and maintain a healthy, safe environment for all community members. The new report incorporates analysis from a consulting firm that specializes in process improvement and change management for public safety and policing operations.

“The CBPS and our consultants at The Riseling Group worked hand-in-hand to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations that benefit from the deep knowledge of board members with a rich understanding of the Stanford campus, are influenced by the input from the Stanford community, were benchmarked against successful programs across the country, and were scrutinized by a diverse team with decades of public safety experience,” said Patrick Dunkley, vice provost for institutional equity, access, and community. “The report that resulted from this robust process positions us well to achieve transformational change in our approach to public safety.”

Dunkley and Claude Steele, professor emeritus of psychology, are the board’s co-chairs. Also serving are graduate and undergraduate students; faculty and staff, including members of the Department of Public Safety, or DPS; and community representatives.

Breadth and complexity of public safety roles

“As CBPS’s work has revealed, public safety concerns on campus extend far beyond the more traditional law enforcement functions performed by [DPS],” the panel wrote.

Public safety, when viewed holistically, can include a range of responsibilities, including mental health crisis management, building access control, camera technology, emergency management, threat assessment, contract security, dispatch centers, monitoring centers, victim services, and infrastructure security.

“It is important to remind the Stanford community of the complicated context within which law enforcement services are provided on the Stanford campus,” the panel wrote, noting that much of the university’s land is in unincorporated Santa Clara County and within the jurisdiction of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

“I am grateful to the community board for their thoughtful report and sensible plan. The report conveys the complexity of the challenges and offers ways to improve our approaches,” said Stanford President Richard Saller. “Stanford will continue advancing the community board’s recommendations and work to engage with the necessary external agencies on those recommendations that require their support.”

Progress on recommendations

The report identifies steps Stanford should take to follow up on the principles contained in the panel’s first report. It includes recommendations from The Riseling Group consultants on the most effective ways for the university to implement changes, including timing, pace, and process.

“DPS remains committed to the safety and security of those who work, live, and visit Stanford,” said Laura Wilson, the university’s director of public safety. “We look forward to adopting ways of operating, informed by community input, that will help Stanford achieve a safe community where people feel respected and valued.”

Because “enacting any of the principles in full will take a considerable amount of work and, in some cases, resources,” and in many cases require coordination with outside agencies, the report emphasized items for which significant progress can be achieved in the next year as well as those with longer implementation windows.

Steps that can be accomplished in the next year:

• Mental health services: Engage in discussion with the local jurisdictions aimed at a contract to deploy their response teams, which are led by mental health professionals rather than police, on calls involving mental health crises. Response teams would need to be able to deploy quickly, because these types of crises often occur late at night, when only DPS is immediately available.
• Data collection and analysis: Establish a new position to analyze crime and incident data, consolidate DPS electronic data programs, fully implement features that will provide data specific to Stanford, including contracted security, and make regular public reports of data on complaints and other feedback.
• Training: Elevate anti-bias training to the same level of importance as tactical and firearms training, and address connections between bias and use of force.
• Private security firms: Centralize contracting with private security providers instead of individual contracts with schools and business units; require training that supports IDEAL and incorporates anti-bias, de-escalation, and DEI principles; and use uniforms whose style and colors are distinct from DPS and other area law enforcement agencies.
• Community feedback: Expand opportunities for public feedback, both positive and negative, on DPS and private security firms, develop an alternative dispute resolution program, and empower the public safety board or another panel to review complaint investigations and make recommendations to the DPS chief, who would have final authority to act on them.
• Hiring: Continue to emphasize recruiting for additional DPS security personnel (non-police), who are unarmed.
• Dispatching: Continue discussions with necessary agencies to expedite enhanced dispatching capabilities.

Steps with longer implementation windows:

• Mental health services: Create a Stanford crisis call center that dispatches responses to mental health–related crisis calls based on the nature of the incident, including threat level, safety concerns, and likelihood of injury and property damage, and provide comprehensive dispatcher training for call center staff.
• Strategic approach to service calls: Deploy a mix of armed and unarmed personnel, dispatching sworn (armed) and non-sworn DPS personnel on service calls based on the nature of the incident, and when “work does not require someone with a badge and a gun,” make greater use of Community Service Officers and Public Service Officers. Use more “lower touch” approaches such as greater use of bicycles and foot patrols.
• Public safety coordination: Take a “more holistic approach” either by creating a senior leadership position overseeing various organizations performing public safety functions or a coordinated leadership group. “Although the CBPS agrees with the wisdom of the consolidation approach, the recommendations [in the new report] do not depend on this model being in place,” the board wrote.

Ongoing review and feedback

“We are proud of what we have accomplished to date, but we also know there is a great deal of work still ahead of us,” Steele said. “The implementation of the changes necessary to reimagine public safety will require an ongoing commitment not only from university leadership, but from across our campus. As the CBPS continues its work, we look forward to the continued engagement from our entire community to assist us in meeting all the needs of the diverse interests on our campus.”

The board, which was created following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, is an independent entity that works closely with DPS in developing recommendations. Its responsibilities include reviewing relevant data and providing an avenue, including town halls, for regular community feedback on issues involving the safety, security, and quality of life of students, staff, and faculty.

In the coming weeks, the board will schedule public meetings with Stanford community stakeholders to discuss and obtain feedback on the second progress report.