On Sept. 9, Interim President Phillips sent out an email informing the UO community that 21CP Solutions had produced a final report containing information about their assessment process and recommendations for campus safety and well-being.

21CP is an organization of retired police chiefs, lawyers, community leaders and others who assess the security of police departments, universities, businesses and cities and help create solutions for these organizations to be safer. They worked with the UO between February through June of 2022 to assess campus safety, examine the role of UOPD on campus and make recommendations based on the needs of the campus.

UO had hired 21CP to assess the needs of campus and campus security and provide feedback. The email said they will put out a “comprehensive framework regarding student wellness” to implement 21CPs recommendations over the next few months.

It is not known exactly why the UO hired 21CP. The Daily Emerald attempted to schedule interviews with Interim President Phillips and UOPD, but was unsuccessful.

In his email, Phillips said UO and 21CP worked together to address three main areas relating to campus safety. Those areas include response to individuals experiencing mental, behavioral and emotional health challenges on campus, additional changes to the roles, responsibilities and functions to the UOPD and police accountability.

21CP said it made their assessment based on information and data from “paper, performance and people.” 21CP examined an array of materials such as campus safety reports, policies, training materials and annual reports relating to UO and UOPD. 21CP acknowledged UOPD’s engagement and cooperation with 21CP’s assessment process. 21CP also looked at crime logs, calls for service, engagement with CAHOOTS and other information.

According to the email, 21CP collaborated with the university by meeting in focus groups and conducting interviews with UO stakeholders and community members.

Through an anonymous email survey titled “Voice of UO” and a student-focused questionnaire, 21CP obtained feedback from 309 individuals. 

Phillips said a frequent theme that emerged from 21CPs assessment was mental health support for UO students and staff. He said mental health does not fall under the responsibility of UOPD and will be dealt with separately. Phillips listed a number of mental health resources recently implemented at UO, such as the tele-counseling service partner Christie Campus, “Let’s Talk” and Kognito. He also lists future plans to improve and expand mental health services at UO such as creating an acute mental health triage system for students and hiring a mental health promotion specialist to join the Public Health Practices Team.

Phillips said UO reduced the number of armed officer positions by 26% before engaging 21CP and has increased the number of community service officers on campus. This is due in part to the fact that 80–90% of mental health related emergency calls are from individuals who are not affiliated with UO, he said. Going forward, Phillips said the UO will need to work in collaboration with the City of Eugene, the University Business District and CAHOOTS to address these issues.