LA community colleges end sheriff’s contract, will explore unarmed security model
The Los Angeles Community College District has announced plans to seek a new security services contract after failing to reach agreement on a new contract with the sheriff’s department, which has provided services to its campuses for 19 years.
District officials had negotiated with sheriff’s department representatives for five months and were not able to reach agreement for a six-month contract or long-term contract “in light of the current COVID-19 environment,” Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez said Friday.
The sheriff’s department’s contract with LACCD expires on Dec. 31, and the district is exploring unarmed service models, the sheriff’s department reported.
Rodriguez said the district will conduct an assessment of campus safety over the next few months “and use that assessment as the basis for a request for proposals for campus safety services.”
The district would welcome a new proposal from the sheriff’s department after it issues the request for proposals, Rodriguez said. The district did not release details about the types of security services that will be provided or what type of temporary contract is being pursued.
“For the past nineteen years, the over 150 Department members have served L.A.’s college community with the utmost pride and professionalism,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a statement Friday. “I want to thank the college district for their past partnership. We will always be available to serve the residents of the county.”
Villanueva said personnel currently serving the community colleges will be reassigned to fill vacancies throughout the department.
The LACCD spends more than $25 million a year for sheriff’s department services, including round-the-clock security at its nine colleges, several branch sites and satellite campuses, the district’s main office in downtown Los Angeles and other facilities, said William H. Boyer, the district’s director of communications.
LACCD campuses include LA Valley College in Valley Glen, LA Pierce College in Woodland Hills, LA Mission College in Sylmar, and LA Harbor College in Wilmington.