University of California and California State University officials, police oversight experts and student representatives are scheduled to meet Wednesday in Sacramento to testify in a joint legislative hearing on non-violent protests and use-of-force rules.
State Sen. Alan Lowenthal and Assemblymember Marty Block called the hearing after several incidents at UC Davis and UC Berkeley in recent weeks where campus police pepper sprayed students or battered them with batons.
UC President Mark Yudof and UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi are expected to be among the officials testifying Wednesday.
Block said that the higher educational institutions must encourage free expression and create an environment that is safe for students.
Student representatives–the respective presidents of the UC Student Association and CSU Associated Students–are expected to speak on the policies and procedures student groups followed when organizing demonstrations.
Yudof, along with a CSU chief law enforcement officer Nate Johnson and the university’s Executive Vice Chancellor Ben Quillian, will provide testimony on the universities’ system-wide policies and procedures on demonstrations.
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