Employees call for UCD police chief’s resignation

  UC DAVIS UC Davis police officers are now calling for the
rapid removal of Chief Calvin Handy.

By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Contributor

Police officers at UC Davis are calling for the resignation of
Chief Calvin Handy, alleging that he is mismanaging the department
and underreporting campus crimes.

An unsigned letter containing allegations but no supporting
evidence was delivered to Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef by the chief
upon its discovery at the department on Oct. 16, said John Meyer,
UC Davis vice chancellor for resource management and planning, in a
joint statement with Handy on Thursday.

The vote of no-confidence in Handy is represented by employees
of the police department as a whole, including officers and staff,
according to Steve Welty, attorney at Mastagni, Holstedt &
Chiurazzi, the law firm representing the employees and the only
named party in the letter.

“The complaint was filed anonymously because the employees
are afraid of retaliation from administration,” Welty said.
“At some point though, everyone will have to come
forward.”

Handy was unable to comment on the allegations, but stated he is
confident that a fair and impartial review of the matter will be
conducted.

“I’m proud of our officers and our support staff and
our long history of dedicated service,” Handy said in the
statement. “The department is open to hearing any and all
complaints and to resolving them fairly and effectively.”

Grievances from Davis police were prompted by a Sacramento Bee
report last month on UC campus rape and sexual violence.

The Bee reported that Davis police consistently underreported
sexual crimes and alleged that students treated for assault at
hospitals or who reported them to other university employees
weren’t accounted for in crime statistics unless campus
police were notified.

The article also alleged that UCLA had not included rapes
reported to hospitals.

According to the Bee article dated Sept. 24, “UCLA
doesn’t receive rape statistics from UCLA’s medical
center ““ where most sexually assaulted students are treated
““ because the medical center doesn’t separate out which
patients are students.”

But Nancy Greenstein, director of police community services at
UCLA who compiles the crime reports, said the department does
record incidents from the hospital.

“I’m confident that the law is followed here,”
she said.

In 1999, UCLA reported 34 forcible and seven non-forcible sex
offenses, while UC Davis reported four forcible and no non-forcible
sex offenses, according to university Clery reports.

The Clery Act, which mandates that colleges release annual crime
reports, was named after Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh
University student who was raped and murdered by another student in
her dormitory room in 1986.

Her parents said they were unaware that 38 sexual assaults had
occurred on her campus in the three years prior to her murder.

Aside from the Clery report, Greenstein also compiles a separate
report that includes more statistics on the specific nature of the
crimes, like instances of rape.

Greenstein, who attended a workshop over the summer on how to
compile Clery report data, spoke of the difficulties of recording
some crimes.

For example, she said, universities aren’t clear whether
crimes that occur across the street from campus should count as
campus crime.

“I tend to count it when I have a question, she said.
“I’d rather err on the side of caution.”

UC Davis officials believe they fully complied with the Clery
Act and are awaiting results from the investigation.

The university has assigned a non-university investigator
familiar with public safety to look into allegations against Handy,
and has also requested evidence from the law firm representing the
department, Meyer stated.

Maril Stratton, assistant vice chancellor of public
communications at Davis, said the university has invited the
Department of Education to review the crime reports.

“We believe we have practiced good faith efforts to
comply,” she said.