UW security policy might be unfair to conservative groups

A security policy at the University of Washington requires groups, both affiliated and unaffiliated with the university, to cover the costs of keeping on-campus events safe. Those costs are determined by the UW Police Department.

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“It’s a not a new policy. We’ve just memorialized the policy and put a few coordinated approaches in place to ensure that we’re on the same page across the university in terms of what the expectations are for students hosting events on campus,” UW Chief of Police John Vinson told KTTH’s Jason Rantz on Friday.

UW police officers conduct a comprehensive review of every on-campus event and decide what kind of security resources are required.

“Our number one goal is to ensure that the environment is safe and secure for all members who attend,” Vinson said.

But some argue that the security policy unfairly affects conservative groups by requiring them to pay more to secure their events, which often draw large crowds of protestors.

Milo Yiannopoulos, the controversial former editor of Breitbart, visited the UW campus in January 2017. His speech incited resistance across campus and violence broke out, resulting in the shooting of one protester.

The Republican group who put on the event was charged about $9,000 for security. But the costs incurred by the university and by Seattle Police were actually much higher than that, Vinson said.

“If Milo comes back, the cost would be more than the $9,000 that the College Republicans paid for that particular event,” he said.

On the flipside, Black Lives Matter advocate Shaun King spoke at the UW campus about a month after Yiannopoulos. For that event, the cost of security was about $4,000, Vinson said.

“They looked at his previous visits on campus if he had some, what had happened across the country at other venues, the sponsor of the event, the date and time of the event, and where the location of the event was held,” Vinson said. “So there are multiple checklists or elements that we use to evaluate the totality of the circumstances.”

The disparity between the security costs of the two events is clear. But what isn’t as clear is what to do about it.

“In our world, we don’t necessarily categorize the groups as conservative or liberal,” Vinson said. “From a policing or security standpoint, it’s unfortunate that some events do generate additional challenges for law enforcement.”

Vinson also addressed the concern that protestors might be able to purposefully drive up the cost of certain events in an effort to get them cancelled. The department takes into account more than just the immediate response to an event, he said. The security policy also dictates that they look at prior events in the area and across the country.

“We want to work with all the groups to ensure that they can have their events on our campus. But like I said before, it’s one of those delicate balances of ensuring that the appropriate amount of resources are available to manage any event,” Vinson said.

Listen to the full interview here.

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