Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Steve Lurie will begin work as UCLA’s associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety Feb. 1.
Laurie replaces Rick Braziel, the former Sacramento Police Department chief who temporarily headed the Office of Campus and Community Safety since it was established in May after the university came under heavy criticism for its response to violence that broke out at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment.
Lurie received a bachelor’s degree from UCLA in 1994, majoring in cultural anthropology. He spent 27 years with the LAPD, completing his career with the department as the assistant commanding officer of West Bureau.
Lurie led a citywide incident management team securing major events in the region. He was incident commander for numerous presidential visits, public demonstrations, the Oscars and other entertainment industry award shows, Super Bowl LVI and the Dodgers’ World Series victory parade.
Lurie, who has been a lawyer for 22 years, was an adjunct professor of law at the Loyola and Pepperdine law schools. He teaches in the criminal justice master’s program at the University of Southern California.
“His track record — combined with his leadership experience, firsthand knowledge of our campus and academic insights as an adjunct professor of law — make him uniquely qualified to lead UCLA’s efforts to strengthen and connect our campus safety initiatives,” Chancellor Julio Frenk wrote in “message to the campus community” released Tuesday.
“He will take a community-informed, collaborative approach to campus safety that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of those who call UCLA home. Our goal is to ensure that our policies and practices are not only effective but also equitable, respecting the safety, rights and well-being of all Bruins.”
Graeme Blair, a UCLA associate professor of political science and a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine, said in a written statement to the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper, “Lurie will take control of the Orwellian apparatus built to silence campus speech on Palestine since May
“His appointment as associate vice chancellor of campus and community safety makes clear the violent police repression of peaceful protest was not an aberration, but exactly what Chancellor Frenk and the UC Regents want.”
Lurie told the Los Angeles Times he was “honored and excited to return to my alma mater in this new role.”
“As a proud alum, I recognize the impact my UCLA education has had on my professional and personal development… I look forward to spending my first 100 days on campus listening and learning more about the Bruin community’s safety concerns, as a `safe’ university is defined by much more than the absence of crime,” Lurie said.