San Jose State’s UPD has made several updates to its department this semester including a new police chief, more training and a community-safety report.
Michael Carroll was appointed UPD Chief on Jan. 18 after working for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department for more than 20 years, according to past Spartan Daily reporting.
Carroll said he has created new training programs for officers, including a cultural humility course.
"As the Chief of Police, I have made it mandatory for all UPD personnel to participate in a four-hour cultural humility course that is certified by the California Police Officer Standards Training Program,” he said in a Zoom call.
Carroll said since assuming his role, he has engaged in “difficult” conversations that lead to “sustainable” solutions.
"Officers from the UPD have participated in robust conversations with the San Jose State University football team, several campus fraternities and student groups to identify ways UPD could better serve the community and build relationships on the university campus,” he said.
Former SJSU President Mary Papazian created SJSU’s Task Force on Community Safety and Policing, sparked by Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, to examine “critical safety issues,” including an assessment of UPD, according to the task force webpage.
Papazian requested student, staff and faculty nominations for the committee to engage in July 2020 and it convened in September 2020 to engage in “relevant discussions,” according to the same webpage.
The group met throughout the fall semester to complete its work, releasing a 99-page report in December 2021 that included UPD data and community safety recommendations from the task force.
According to the December report, there were 77 reported victims of crimes in UPD’s jurisdiction in 2021, with 45 being SJSU affiliates and 32 being non-affiliates.
UPD’s jurisdiction includes the main campus, South Campus, which is located by 10th street, the SJSU president’s home, recognized fraternity and sorority houses near campus and Spartan shops, according to the UPD Jurisdiction and Enforcement Authority webpage.
The report also detailed that many students, faculty and community members are concerned about the department’s budget. UPD accounts for about 1% of the university’s overall budget, according to the same report.
UPD Capt. Frank Belcastro said one of the most notable changes he’s seen to the police department is its community outreach.
“We are moving away from a more traditional policing and going to a community-oriented policing,” Belcastro said in a Zoom call.
He said however, the department currently has a large amount of officer-position vacancies.
“A shortage of staff has affected us,” Belcastro said. “We can only have two UPD officers at a time during a patrol hour. We should have four in that patrol.”
According to “A Conversation With Police And The SJSU Community, '' a powerpoint presented by some UPD officers at a May 4 forum, there are currently 15 officers on the staff, two officers who are graduating from the academy and one more committed to attend the academy. The May 4 open forum was in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library.
The UPD is allowed to have 35 officers on staff and each officer is required to do training at the San Jose Police Department Academy. The officers receive about 1,000 hours of training.
Carroll said the department is looking to fill many of the vacant positions next fall.
While the university has furthered initiatives, including the task force and new training courses, some students, including several of those who attended the UPD forum, believe that the university’s focus should be listening to the community and considering alternatives to policing.
Lana Gomez, an SJSU alumna who is attending the university in Fall 2022 for her master’s degree in social work, said she believes there are still improvements needed in the department.
“While the new police chief is making changes to the culture of the department, I will never feel safe while cops are allowed to have guns on campus,” Gomez said. “ There was a time when I was a student where four UPD officers swarmed my car, all because I was speeding in the parking garage. It wasn’t necessary and it gives me trauma till this day.”
Gomez said she hopes Carroll engages with students and community members.
“I feel like the students' voices have been left out,” she said. “I hope the new police chief uses a different community-driven approach.”
