This Group Wants Private University Police in East Oakland. It’s Stirred Controversy

As Oakland continues to grapple with concerns about public safety, a budget crisis and a beleaguered police department, community organizers launched a campaign this week to revive the idea of creating an independent Northeastern University police force that would also patrol parts of the city.

Conflicting reports on the grassroots initiative, however, have led to widespread concern and confusion among students and community members.

East Oakland Neighbors, an organization led by current and former city residents, is behind the latest campaign pushing for a police department that the private Northeastern University Oakland would operate. The organization said it did so after it was notified that the Oakland City Attorney’s Office rejected an original proposal from the university.

Clay Burch, the university’s regional security director and a former Oakland police captain, submitted that draft memorandum of understanding to the city last year to create an independent university police department that would function alongside but separate from the Oakland Police Department.

Its officers would possess the same powers as those in city police departments, such as the ability to carry a weapon and to use lethal force when necessary, and the department would share jurisdiction with OPD over East Oakland neighborhoods outside of campus, according to the MOU, which was rejected in January.

“For Oakland specifically, first and foremost, the campus and its surroundings must be safe and inviting,” Burch said in a “letter to East Oaklanders” posted on the East Oakland Neighbors’ website last week. “This town needs a procedurally just, constitutional police force that not only enforces the law — actually enforces the law — but also incorporates robust community outreach.”

Although Burch is a Northeastern University employee and was cited as such in an Oaklandside article that reported on the campaign on Monday, he told KQED that community members are leading the newest campaign, and a university spokesperson said that article “does not represent the facts.”

“Although much of the information was attributed to a Northeastern employee, none of it has been fact-checked with university leaders,” spokesperson Renata Nyul said in a statement. She did not specify what, if anything, was incorrect but said that the school has been in talks with the city about partnering in student safety initiatives.

Burch said in a statement to KQED that he is not leading the campaign run by East Oakland Neighbors and that his involvement has been misrepresented. He did not give further comments.

Stephanie Hayden, a Las Vegas resident who founded East Oakland Neighbors and used to live in Oakland, said the organization’s community outreach campaign will allow East Oakland residents to be a part of the conversation around new public safety ideas, with the goal of encouraging the city and Northeastern University to consider a revised version of the police proposal.

“There’s no government involved in this, and Northeastern doesn’t have anything to do with us,” Hayden said.

Northeastern University’s California-based campus is located at the site of Mills College, a former women’s liberal arts school in East Oakland. While the university itself is relatively secluded, rising crime rates in the area have led school officials to brainstorm ways of improving campus security and safety for the wider community.

However, several Oakland residents and students don’t believe that bringing in more officers will improve public safety and are worried that a police force operating outside of federal oversight and jurisdictional safeguards would pose a threat to the community.

“This lack of accountability is particularly alarming in a city like Oakland, where our police department remains under federal oversight after decades of violence, corruption and harm to our communities,” said Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project. “This new force would operate without those same checks, granting them even greater impunity to racially profile, assault and brutalize residents.”

Brooks added that if the university really wanted to support the Oakland community, it would invest in affordable housing, job training programs and mental health services for residents.

The potential cost of a university police force has also spurred backlash from students since this week’s campaign was publicized.

According to Michael Ford, a manager in the city’s Department of Transportation who volunteers with East Oakland Neighbors as a private citizen, Burch told him that the university would cover the total cost of the new police department, starting with $20 million for 20 officers.

“That’s not necessarily where I want to see my tuition go,” said William Holloway, a first-year student.

Several students are petitioning against the proposal after this week’s news was shared in a student and alumni group chat. One student who chose to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution from the university said many of them are concerned that an independent police department will further the strain between students and locals.

“A police force of this nature has no interest in improving East Oakland,” a petition addressed to Burch and Daniel Sachs, dean of Northeastern University’s Oakland campus, states. The petition specifically names Burch and East Oakland Neighbors as the driving forces behind the renewed push for the police department rather than the university itself.

“More police isn’t always the answer to societal issues, and it largely fuels tensions between locals and governing bodies,” said Holloway, who is not involved in the petition. “The addition of more rather than a change of how is not something that’s necessarily going to fix things.”

Some city officials support the idea of a Northeastern University police department. Councilmember Noel Gallo, who is interim City Council president, said he understands the school’s desire for improved safety, especially as the campus community grows.

Oakland does not have enough police officers and is facing a major budget crisis, and the proposal is an opportunity to fix that, he said.

City Attorney Ryan Richardson, who helped review the original proposal by Burch, said a private university having its own peace officers is not unheard of. The University of the Pacific, the University of Southern California and Stanford University have done it before.

In the case of Northeastern University, however, the model Burch proposed isn’t authorized by California law, Richardson said, because it would create an independent, fully authorized police force outside of the local police department’s chain of command — which he called unprecedented in California. The city of Oakland would also be liable for everything the university police department does, according to the original MOU.

One option for private universities is to employ fully fledged peace officers who are working in the local jurisdiction’s police department as reserve officers, Richardson said. The other option is to hire officers who are not considered California peace officers and are limited in their scope of powers.

“It would be good to have some higher-level discussions about alternative pathways that we can all agree on and that will be upheld and are legal,” he said.