UC Berkeley parents hire private security to temporarily patrol campus after raising $40K

A group of Cal parents, concerned about crime on the UC Berkeley campus, is taking matters into their own hands this month. From March 6 through March 23, parent-led non-profit SafeBears is paying for six private security cards to roam the streets near student dorms at night as part of a pilot program.

BERKELEY, Calif. - A group of Cal parents, concerned about crime on the UC Berkeley campus, is taking matters into their own hands this month. From March 6 through March 23, parent-led non-profit SafeBears is paying for six private security cards to roam the streets near student dorms at night as part of a pilot program.

"They don’t have batons, they don’t have mace, they don’t have handcuffs, nothing like that. They have radios," said Sagar Jethani, president of Safe Bears, who added that guards could use their radios to contact other safety ambassadors, or call police as a last resort.

But Jethani said the hope is they won’t need to. "They’re meant to provide a visual deterrent to crime."

Jethani said a deadly shooting outside his kids' dorm in October 2022 prompted him and other parents to launch SafeBears. Just last month, a gunman opened fire in a crowded plaza on campus.

No one was hurt, but Jethani says the University has been too slow to hire additional security, so his group raised $40 thousand to hire private guards for three weeks.

"Our message to the University right now is, your students aren’t safe and a small meaningful financial investment could turn that situation around so quickly," said Jethani.

In a statement to KTVU, UC Berkeley said that it had been bolstering campus security, including through the addition of 32 more community service officers.

"Hiring private security raises a number of concerns including the training and experience of individuals hired by such firms," said UC Berkeley in the statement to KTVU. "We believe that University funds are better spent hiring more sworn or non-sworn UCPD officers."

SafeBears said that it was considering fundraising to extend its security guard program, but that the group was still hoping that the University would reconsider, recognize the benefits of the program, and pay for it themselves.