SUBJECT:

Workplace Violence

On August 15, 1996, three SDSU Engineering professors, Liang
Chen, D. Preston Lowery III, and Constantinos Lyrintzis were shot
and killed on the SDSU campus.

In light of this tragedy, I thought it important to revisit the
resources that are in place and available to all UCSD staff,
students and faculty to help prevent incidents of workplace
violence.

In the summer of 1994, the UCSD Workplace Violence Task Force was
formed and began its work to address the issues of workplace
violence and to develop a proactive strategy to prevent acts of
intimidation, threats and violence. This effort brought together
personnel resources and expertise from the Faculty and Staff
Assistance Program (FSAP), UCSD Human Resources and the UCSD
Police Department. Together, this team published the UCSD
Workplace Violence Employee Handbook, and developed a model
intervention strategy for the management of workplace violence
situations. On the heels of this initial effort, in 1995, The
Committee on Managing Student Disruptive Behavior was formed.
This committee has since published a handbook designed for faculty
and staff on how to manage student disruptive behavior.

Our efforts to prevent workplace violence continues, in the form
of workplace violence seminars, workshops and formal class work
through the UCSD Staff Education and Develop Program. Where
incidents have occurred, special departmental debriefings are
conducted to better educate and inform those directly or indirectly
involved in the particular situation.

With the assistance of the entire UCSD community, where we as
individuals treat one another with respect in a manner we would like
to be treated, incidents of intimidation threats or violence can be
significantly reduced.

Employee workplace violence handbooks are available at the UCSD Police
Department. We anticipate placing the entire handbook on the Web UCSD
Police Department home page, which of course can be accessed via the
UCSD InfoPath.

The UCSD Faculty and Staff Assistance Program and the UCSD
Human Resources Department are both excellent resources to
consider in the management of workplace violence situations.

For more information concerning the prevention of workplace violence,
department presentations or referrals, please contact UCSD
Detective Sergeant Robert L. Jones, at 534-4359 or
rjones@UCSD.edu via e-mail.

Maudie Bobbitt Chief of Police