About Us
SafeBears is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of parents and community allies working to make UC Berkeley safer for students
BOARD MEMBERS
Steve Ravellette, president
Victoria Cole, vice president
Melissa Kerpel, secretary
Ingrid Safranek, treasurer
Roberto Reynoso
MEDIA INQUIRIES: contact@safebears.org
SafeBears, Inc. EIN 92-3541937
What We’ve Accomplished
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Private Security Pilot
Cal parents raised over $40,000 to conduct a private security pilot program around UC Berkeley in March 2024.
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Night Safety Shuttles
In April 2023, SafeBears met with Cal administration and got all 3 shuttles back in service.
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Residence Hall Safety Ambassadors
Cal hired around 115 new student security monitors to reinstate night shift coverage in Southside residence halls.
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Community Service Organization hiring
SafeBears encouraged Cal adminstration to hire more CSO’s.
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Cal Student Safety Fund
We motivated establishment of The Cal Student Safety Fund.
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City of Berkeley advocacy
We successfully lobbied for license plate readers, permanent hiring of the police chief, and signing bonuses for new police officers.
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WarnMe Awareness
WarnMe education and advocacy with members and administration
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Education and Community Building
SafeBears hosted webinars with Cal student leaders, Cal administration and more!
Our Priorities
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Visible security presence
Cal must get serious about crime and public disorder on and near campus. Due to a shortage of UCPD sworn officers that will take years to remedy, we are working to increase the visible security presence immediately with non-sworn personnel, such as private security, a reserve officer program, and more student and full-time UCPD non-sworn officers.
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Fences around student housing
Intruders continue to enter residence halls with distressing frequency. We are advocating for security fencing as part of a multi-pronged strategy to keep students safe in their university-provided homes.
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Expanded hours for dorm security
Residence hall security has improved with more student lobby monitors and student service officers on the job after dark. ✅ We are still pressing for expanded coverage, as experience shows that not all trespasses occur at night.
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Safety ambassadors
While we are currently focused on getting more boots on the ground to provide a visible security presence, we continue to advocate for a permanent program of full-time safety ambassadors modeled after the USC “yellow jackets.”
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Better use of security cameras
Cal’s video camera footage is only reviewed after a crime occurs. We want more cameras around campus with realtime monitoring to stop crime before it happens, particularly at the entrances to student housing.
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Better lighting where students live
We are pushing both the city and the university to quickly fix broken lights and add additional lighting in areas on and off campus that students have identified as dangerously dark (in their twice annual Fiat Lux walks).
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Safety training for students
Cal must do more to train students on how to keep safe, not just during freshman year but throughout their college experience. All too often, students do not receive or absorb fundamental knowledge, such as whether they can call 911 on campus property. (YES!)
Our History
Aug. 2022 — After multiple serious criminal incidents in the streets near campus, UC Berkeley parents begin pressuring the University and the City to improve safety
Oct. 2022 — A fatal shooting steps from a UC Berkeley dorm further galvanizes parents
April 2023 — Dissatisfied with the university’s response , Cal parents organize as SafeBears
May 2023 — SafeBears gets its official nonprofit status (EIN: 92-3541937)
March 2024 — After notching several safety wins, SafeBears launches its most ambitious program to date: the SafeBears Private Security Pilot runs for 3 weeks, drawing national news coverage, getting the attention of UC leadership, and adding a visible security presence to help keep students safe
May 2024 — In accordance with the SafeBears, Inc. bylaws, the founding officers step down to make way for new leadership – the first step in ensuring the organization will continue as an advocate for student safety even as students graduate and their parents move on
FAQs
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In March 2023, Berkeley Police Chief Jen Louis reported that the overall number of violent and property crimes in 2022 was at a 10-year high. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin describes crime around UC Berkeley as “extremely concerning and troubling.”
Violent crime rose 15% in the city of Berkeley in 2023.
Serious crime on UC Berkeley’s campus and other property is disproportionately high compared to similar urban universities. You can compare crime data using the US Department of Education’s campus safety analysis tools.
To learn more, visit our Crime@Cal page, and read our 2023-2024 Safety Year in Review.
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Part of what we do is hold UC Berkeley accountable for the safety promises it has made to students and their families — promises that too often have been broken. In the ‘22-’23 academic year, UC Berkeley was failing to provide basic safety programs found at most large universities — such as reliable nighttime shuttles and dormitory lobby monitors. Due in part to our advocacy, all three night safety shuttles are now in service, and student residence halls are better protected after dark with lobby monitors and/or roaming foot patrols.
We are in close contact with campus administration, meeting and emailing with staff regularly to gather information and monitor developments. We also study safety best practices at other universities and advocate for additional safety programs at Cal — like security fencing around student housing.
We have found that, unfortunately, UC Berkeley does not have an administrator with overall responsibility for campus safety. The university’s safety infrastructure is fragmented among multiple departments, each with many other, non-safety responsibilities. This makes it difficult for student safety to be the priority that it should be.
Above all, we are your voice for student safety at UC Berkeley. But we can’t do it without you.
Have a question or want to help? Contact us here.
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Ensuring UCPD is fully staffed and supported by the University
Building secured access around all student dormitories to stop intruders from gaining access
Expanding coverage hours for dorm security personnel
Improving the WarnMe alert system — so that alerts arrive more quickly & with more information
Better lighting on and around campus
Realtime monitoring of security cameras in sensitive areas such as dorm entrances
Better student safety training throughout their college experience
Creating a permanent program of full-time safety ambassadors on and around campus
Get all of our latest updates here.
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We are parents of current and recent UC Berkeley students who are working together to make Cal safer. We are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We’re holding UC administrators and members of local government accountable to making the changes we need.
We work with a variety of partners within the University, UCPD, local businesses, and parent safety organizations at other universities around the country.
Click for all of our latest updates.
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While we are primarily a parent organization, we do welcome Cal affiliates as well as members of the greater Berkeley community who are interested in improving safety at UC Berkeley and in the city as a whole. We often engage with allies who are not Cal parents. To work on our specific safety measures, however, we will generally require you to be a parent or guardian of a current or recent UC Berkeley student.
Join Us!
Whether you are a Cal parent, a Cal affiliate or alum, or a member of the community who is affected by rising crime in Berkeley, we would love to hear from you. Get in touch with us by emailing contact@safebears.org. -
Our Partners
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Together we can make UC Berkeley safer for students.
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