NCJ Number
66434
Date Published
1979
Length
327 pages
Annotation
DETERIORATING RELATIONS IN THE 1960'S BETWEEN THE POLICE AND UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SANTA BARBARA (UCSB) STUDENTS LEADING UP TO FOUR 1970 RIOTS ARE DISCUSSED AND THE PRESENT, REFORMED UCSB POLICE SYSTEM IS PRESENTED.
Abstract
EVENTS DETAILED FROM 1954, WHEN SANTA BARBARA COLLEGE BECAME PART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, TO 1970, SHOW THAT THE CAMPUS POLICE AND SANTA BARBARA SHERIFF'S OFFICE USED TRADITIONAL POLICING TACTICS OF RESPONDING TO EACH SITUATION AS IT AROSE. MOREOVER, OFFICERS WERE MINIMALLY TRAINED AND POLICE ADMINISTRATORS WERE NOT POLICYMAKERS. HOWEVER, LITTLE MONEY WAS AVAILABLE FOR POLICE IMPROVEMENTS. NEVERTHELESS, UNTIL THE MID-1960'S, CAMPUS POLICE AND STUDENTS WERE ON CASUAL, FRIENDLY TERMS, WITH THE POLICE ACCEPTED AS SUBSTITUTE PARENTS. THE FOUR MAJOR RIOTS OF 1970 SHOWED THAT THE CAMPUS POLICE WERE OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE TIMES: ALTHOUGH STUDENTS HAD DENOUNCED POLICE CAMPUS ADMINISTRATOR PATERNALISM SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE, THE POLICE HAD NO SYMPATHY FOR RADICAL STUDENT GOALS AND IDEAS, DID NOT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH RADICALISM HAD GROWN, AND COULD NOT TOLERATE THE DETERIORATION OF RESPECT FOR THE POLICE. FINALLY, IN 1970, STUDENT-POLICE COMMUNICATION ENDED AND FOUR RIOTS OCCURRED FOLLOWING THE BURNING OF A BANK IN NEARBY ISLA VISTA, RESULTED IN A WARLIKE ATMOSPHERE. IN THE AFTERMATH, HOWEVER, BOTH THE POLICE AND STUDENTS COMPROMISED, AS STUDENTS REALIZED THE POLICE WERE USEFUL AND THE POLICE REALIZED THAT MANY OLD PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES HAD TO CHANGE. BY 1978, POLICE HAD SHED THREATENING POLICE GARB, PATROLLED THE CAMPUS AND ISLA VISTA (RESIDENCE OF MANY STUDENTS) ON FOOT, AND WERE PARTICIPATING IN MANY COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES. POLICE NOW RECOGNIZE ISLA VISTA AS A UNIQUE COMMUNITY WITH MANY PROBLEMS WHICH REQUIRE A DELICATE INTERRELATION OF CRIME DETERRENCE, COMMUNITY RELATIONS, PUBLIC SERVICE, AND ORDER MAINTENANCE. FOOTNOTES, TABLES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF APPROXIMATELY 100 REFERENCES, AND A MAP ARE INCLUDED.