UC Davis police are praising last week’s passage of legislation they say will strengthen their investigative abilities while also building trust within the campus community.
Senate Bill 424, authored by state Sen. Richard Pan, adds language to the California Penal Code giving college and university police departments the authority to use pretext phone calls and other recording devices, such as body cameras, during the course of their criminal investigations.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on Thursday.
UCD Police Chief Matt Carmichael said while the investigatory measures have been available to his department in the past, they required authorization from the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. SB 424, he noted, “levels the playing field.”
“What this does is make a clear statement that colleges and university police departments should have the same ability to investigate as their peers,” Carmichael said. “The community has an expectation that we are as good as our partners in the city and at the Sheriff’s Department.”
SB 424 authorizes the use of pretext phone calls — a recorded phone conversation, usually between a victim and a suspect, that is used to gather evidence.
They are used in a variety of police investigations but can be particularly effective in sexual assault probes, including drug-facilitated rapes, proponents of the measure say.
SB 424 has not been without share of opposition, however. Some have questioned whether the measure violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
One critic, the Council of UC Faculty Associations, expressed in an April 13 letter to Pan concern that the measure gives “authority for warrantless covert surveillance to colleges and universities in California.”
Carmichael said while sexual assaults account for just a small percentage of the reports his department receives each year, “one incident of sexual assault on this campus is too many.” The agency already has crafted a sexual assault reduction plan — part of an overall three-year strategic plan — that comprises prevention, intervention and apprehension techniques.
The police chief said he sees a connection in SB 424’s authorization of body-worn cameras to document encounters between campus police and the public, offering an additional layer of transparency that Carmichael hopes will bolster trust in his department and reduce the number of crimes that go unreported.
“If the community doesn’t trust the police department, how can I expect people to come forward and report?” Carmichael said. “We have to demonstrate that we’re a victim advocate, and we do that by building trust and keeping that trust.”
Carmichael said the UCD police department has been working with student leaders and the American Civil Liberties Union over the past year to craft an update to its existing body camera policy that would issue the devices to each of the agency’s 48 sworn police officers.
“It’s helped highlight some of the issues that we might not have been aware of, and vice versa,” he said of the working relationship.
Police officials are hoping to have their officers equipped with the new cameras by early 2016, Carmichael said. The agency is seeking reliable, easy-to-use technology that likely will be leased at an estimated cost of $25 per month for each officer.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene