UCLA Police Chief John Thomas has been removed from his post and reassigned, officials said, weeks after he faced sharp criticism for security failures that led to violence at a pro-Palestinian encampment.
Rick Braziel, associate vice chancellor who heads the newly created Office of Campus Safety, informed Thomas this week that he would be reassigned while internal and external investigations examine campus security shortfalls that left UCLA students and others involved in the protest encampment to fend for themselves against attackers for three hours before law enforcement moved in to quell the melee.
UCLA Police Captain Gawin Gibson was named interim police chief as of Tuesday, according to Mary Osako, vice chancellor for strategic communications.
She added that UCLA’s Office of Campus Safety “is leading a thorough examination of our security processes aimed at enhancing the well-being and safety of our community.”
Thomas did not return texts and calls for comment.
“Given Chief Thomas’ mishandling of keeping our community safe and ear-splitting calls for him to step aside, this had to happen,” said one source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Thomas had lost confidence within UCLA and among some outside law enforcement officials, who have criticized what they said was the police chief’s lack of proper planning, coordination and communication in creating a campus safety plan and securing enough officers to carry it out should violence occur at the encampment. Both the police chief and Michael Beck, the administrative vice chancellor who oversaw the police department and Office of Emergency Management at the time, have faced calls for their resignation. Braziel has taken over both of those units as chief safety officer.
After pro-Palestinian supporters put up an encampment in a grassy quad at UCLA, campus leadership asked Thomas to create a written, detailed safety plan laying out actions for various scenarios — from rallies to skirmishes to full-blown violence — but did not receive one, three sources told The Times. The police chief was told to use whatever overtime pay was needed to secure help from external law enforcement, But Thomas said a paperwork logjam between the city and state prevented him from completing any contracts before the encampment was attacked on the night of April 30.
Thomas, in an earlier interview with The Times, defended his actions and said he did the best he could.
The shake-up at the UCLA police department comes after more than three tense weeks on campus since the violent mob attack.
Thomas was appointed police chief in January and had served as interim chief since 2022. He came to UCLA from USC in 2022 as interim police chief. At USC, he had been the Dept. of Public Safety executive and chief since 2013. He worked as an assistant chief and police captain at USC after arriving on campus in 2009 from the LAPD, where he was a lieutenant. He also previously served in the Washington, D.C. police department.
The decision on police leadership took place before UCLA Chancellor Gene Block is scheduled to testify in Washington, D.C. at a House education committee hearing on antisemitism alongside the presidents of Rutgers and Northwestern universities. The committee is expected to aggressively grill Block about the April 30 violence at the UCLA encampment and accusations of antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests.
Earlier congressional hearings have featured the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University
University of California President Michael V. Drake has launched an external investigation into the security, which Block says he welcomes as he initiates his own review.