UCF Chief of Police
Actionable Items
We’ve heard the feedback from students, faculty and staff, and the overwhelming theme is action. In Summer 2020, we created a list of short- and long-term goals and plan to expand this list following future discussions with our community.
Hiring and Background Process
UCFPD will be adopting additional screening of biases during our hiring and background check processes.
Implicit Bias Training Officer
UCFPD will send an officer to an upcoming implicit bias “train the trainer” course so that new officers can receive this training immediately upon beginning their onboarding with UCFPD, without having to wait for a local offering of the course to be available.
Educational Opportunities
UCFPD has made a long-term commitment to send officers each year to Washington, D.C., to experience the National Museum of African American History and Culture, pending pandemic and budget restrictions.
Review #8CantWait
UCFPD has implemented #8CantWait recommendations for reducing police use of force as part of a renewed commitment to de-escalation.
Revise Policies and Practices
Since 2015, the UCF Police Department has been revising their policies and practices, incorporating many of the 21st Century Policing task force’s recommendations and action items, which provided guidance for how a department can strengthen trust within their communities, while also lowering crime.
Updated Training
In 2020, all sworn and civilian UCFPD employees completed Harvard’s Project Implicit bias test and modules within the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s newly launched “Talking About Race” online portal. New hires also are required to complete this training.
Chief’s Advisory Council
Chief Metzger revived the Chief’s Advisory Council, which include diverse voices of students, faculty and staff.
UCF Police Department Diversity
UCFPD has long said our sworn staff should mirror the community they serve.
Chief’s Advisory Council
The Chief’s Advisory Council includes student, faculty and staff representatives from across UCF who have expressed interest in Public Safety operations or have some other sort of intersection point with what we do. Our goal is to bring together a group that represents our diverse, dynamic community and that will address issues related to the well-being of our campuses and their citizens. Chief’s Advisory Council meetings are a place for frank, candid discussions that help move UCFPD and our relationship with the community forward through relationship-building and open lines of communication among trusted members.
Community Outreach Center
UCFPD opened a Community Outreach Center in the Student Union in 2019. Officers from the Community Partnerships Unit met with campus partners ahead of the opening to explain what the purpose of the space was for: To keep the Union safe and allow our community to meet and engage with officers. This space is regularly used for walk in questions and for group training with officers about community engagement and partnerships.
UCF Police Training
Fair and Impartial Policing
We invite members of the UCF community to participate alongside our officers in training about recognizing bias and acting with fairness in all interactions.
Wells’ Built Museum Partnership
With an agency focus on community policing and a UCFPD presence at UCF Downtown, agency leadership decided that all UCFPD officers should understand the history of the Parramore neighborhood. This led to a partnership with the Wells’ Built Museum of African American History & Culture, which has provided tours to all sworn UCFPD officers.
Safe Zone
Officers and civilians have completed Safe Zone training, a program for UCF students, staff and faculty members interested in showing visual support LGBTQ persons at the university.
UCF Police Policies
The UCF Police Department is grounded in its policies, which direct officers and staff on how they are expected to conduct themselves while representing themselves as UCF Police employees. These policies are extremely detailed and outline what’s expected, along with the consequences if the policy is not followed.
Use of Force
There are certain situations that may require officers to use force. These policies are extremely strict, and all use-of-force scenarios are reviewed by peers and UCFPD leadership. This policy clearly states that it is imperative to value and preserve human life, and use of force may only be used until the incident is under control. UCFPD officers do not carry rubber bullets or tear gas, and our policy does not allow neck restraints. Explore UCFPD’s Use of Force data for the past four years compared to the total number of arrests.
View the Response to Resistance Policy
Protests
UCFPD is committed to protecting individuals’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest, and we are out there to keep our community safe. The UCF Police Department’s Emergency Response Team — a specialty group of officers trained in crowd management — may be deployed to support outside agencies or support large events on campus.
View the Protests and Demonstrations Policy
Body Cameras
The UCF Police Department was one of the first agencies in Central Florida to implement the use of body cameras. Now, UCFPD has upgraded body cameras to activate when officers turn on the lights on their vehicle or remove a gun or taser from their holster, removing the element of human error in a quickly evolving situation. After receiving feedback from student groups at UCF, UCFPD updated officers’ body work cameras to begin buffering 60 seconds before being activated, instead of 30 seconds.
View the Body Work Cameras Policy
Emergency Response Team
UCFPD’s Emergency Response Team is a group of officers who are specially trained in de-escalation and crowd management. These officers are often deployed for large events on campus, or to support other agencies when large gatherings are expected.
View the Emergency Response Team Policy
Bias-based Profiling
Racial and ethnic profiling is unacceptable, especially in law enforcement. The UCF Police Department is charged with protecting the constitutional rights of all citizens within the university community, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, physical disability, religion, age, cultural group, economic status or other belief system.
View the Bias-Free Policing Policy
Duty to Intervene
UCFPD’s Response to Resistance policy calls for officers to treat everyone fairly and humanely, and our Duty to Intervene policy was recently updated to expand on those priniciples. UCFPD is committed to doing the right thing, and we expect our officers to speak up when they believe a colleague is acting inappropriately.
Public Safety Open Forum
UCFPD’s most recent public safety town hall was held in February 2022 in collaboration with Student Government.
Campus Involvement
To celebrate diversity and inclusion, UCFPD encourages officers to become a part of the campus community by joining groups on campus they are passionate about. This helps our officers connect with those on our campus, and ultimately serve them better as police officers.
Officer Bianca Becker, a detective with UCFPD since 2017, has proved she is always eager to learn and help the community she serves. Along with volunteering as the LGBTQ+ liaison for UCFPD, Becker also volunteered to serve at the new UCF Downtown campus to gain new experiences in an urban environment. A UCF graduate herself, she is always one of the first officers to volunteer at community events like Coffee With a Cop.
Officer Ashley Gonzalez-Montanez volunteered as the LGBTQ+ liaison when the opportunity presented itself, and has facilitated bringing UCF’s Safe Zone training – which furthers understanding of LGBTQ+ issues and fosters allyship – to members of Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Orlando Police Department at the UCF Downtown campus. She joined the UCF Police Department in 2017, after completing the Law Enforcement Academy with fellow LGBTQ+ liaison Bianca Becker. A UCF alumnae, she’s received multiple awards for going above and beyond to help her community, including buying a homeless student a new pair of shoes.
Officer Monica Quimbayo started at the UCF Police Department in January 2020, but she certainly has a lot of law enforcement experience under her belt. Before joining UCFPD, the University of Florida alumnae was a former deputy with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and officer at the Gainesville Police Department. When being sworn in at UCFPD, she said how excited she was to police in a campus environment. By volunteering as an LGBTQ+ liaison for UCFPD, Quimbayo hopes to meet members of the community she serves, and offer resources and support.
Campus Safety News
