As California continues to suffer from unrelenting crime with district attorneys who refuse to hold criminals accountable, parents of students at the University of California, Berkeley are having to take extra measures.
Parents have raised $42,000 to pay for private security guards that patrol just outside the campus according to the San Francisco Chronicle, being on watch from March 6 to 23.
Guards — called the SafeBears ambassadors — walk along sidewalks and bicycle routes near the campus, not being permitted to walk onto the university’s land itself.
The six guards have also been told to avoid any physical confrontations, track all interactions with the public and contact authorities if any major criminal activities occur.
When the story was first published, the SafeBears had escorted 49 people, engaged with the public nine times and provided visitor information to 42 people.
While the guards themselves are quite limited in what they’re able to do, the hiring alone sends a major message to UC Berkeley and even the state as a whole.
Parents of students are hoping the university will look at the concern shown and increase the campus police force — hopefully, funded by the outrageous tuition costs.
To date, the SafeBears ambassadors have provided safety escort services to 49 people, engaged nine times with people living on the street and conveyed visitor information to 42 people.
As of Monday, they had not intervened in any disturbances. https://t.co/P7we9cidn1
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) March 19, 2024
Campus-goers have widely enjoyed the increased security presence, citing concerns over previous incidents that have occurred.
“I’ve seen students chased with knives,” senior Salvador Bravo said.
Students discussed how while they may have never been harmed themselves, their phones ring nearly every day with emergency alerts from UC police.
Still, the program has its critics.
Some people are raising concerns that if private security were to harm somebody, the parents who hired them could be legally liable.
Others criticize the $42,000 price tag for just 17 days of security.
UC Berkeley law professor Jonathan Simon said the brief security “seems more like a stunt than a study.”
Regardless, the fact that the public feels the need to increase security says at least something about the state of California.
The data seems to back up UC Berkeley parents as well. The San Francisco Chronicle noted that between 2021 and 2022, robberies and aggravated assaults both rose a considerable amount on the campus.
Of course, the irony is that the same parents who are so concerned about the growing criminal activity are likely the same people who voted for the politicians who permit it to happen.
Even the students are overwhelmingly liberal, as only 4 percent of the campus identifies as conservative according to Niche.
They always seem to think they can have their cake and eat it too.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
