UCLA to commission review of LAPD’s use of Jackie Robinson Stadium

UCLA is planning to commission an independent third-party review of the events that led to the LAPD using the UCLA-leased Jackie Robinson Stadium to detain protesters during the George Floyd protests in June, administrators announced Friday.

The university appointed Tyrone Howard, an education professor, and Rasha Gerges Shields, a UCLA Law alumna, as co-chairs to lead a review of campus safety policies, Chancellor Gene Block and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Emily Carter said in a campuswide email Friday.

Howard and Gerges will collect community input and make recommendations on new public safety policies, according to the email. They also recommended a review of events surrounding the events at Jackie Robinson Stadium in June.

LAPD used the stadium parking lot, which UCLA leases for its baseball team, in June to process arrests of people who protested in Downtown LA. Several detainees told The Bruin at the time that they were handcuffed and caged in buses for hours without access to food, water or bathroom facilities.

Block and other officials said at the time that UCLA was aware that LAPD was using the stadium as a staging area but did not know the department would use it to process arrests.

The university administration fully supports the review into the Jackie Robinson Stadium incident and expects the report to be released by June, said UCLA spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez in an emailed statement.