John Thomas leaves UCLA police chief job after criticism for failing to protect students during encampment melee
LOS ANGELES — UCLA Police Department Chief John Thomas has left his job after drawing criticism for serious security lapses and failing to protect students during a melee at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the university announced Wednesday.
“December 10, 2024, was former UCLA Police Chief John Thomas’ last day with UCLA and the UCLA Police Department. UCLA Police Captain Scott Scheffler will serve as interim police chief until a permanent chief is selected,” the campus’ X page reported, with no elaboration on the departure.
During violence in late April and early May, UCLA students and others involved in a pro-Palestinian encampment had to fend for themselves against attackers for three hours before law enforcement moved in to quell the disturbance.
A University of California independent review released last month found that UCLA failed to protect students because a “highly chaotic” decision-making process, lack of communication among campus leaders and police, and other shortfalls led to institutional paralysis.
The review, which was conducted by a national law enforcement consulting agency, found that UCLA had no detailed plan for handling major protests, even as problems were “reasonably foreseeable” as encampments at other campuses were drawing at times violent conflict. Campus police had no effective plan to work with external law enforcement and failed to take command on the night of the melee,” leading the LAPD and the California Highway Patrol to devise an ad hoc response.
The UCLA Police response to the violence also was criticized in a report submitted to the Los Angeles Police Commission by then-interim chief Dominic Choi, which cited little coordination between UCLA and assisting police agencies.
Another report by the Republican-led U.S. House Committee on Education & the Workforce said UCLA “stood by and failed to act” as an illegal pro-Palestinian encampment “violated Jewish students’ civil rights and placed (the) campus at risk.”
Weeks after the violence, Thomas had been temporarily reassigned as the Office of Campus Safety conducted an examination of the school’s security processes.
Thomas could not be reached for comment.
The Daily News contributed to this story.