Miguel Bañuelos remembers flipping through rows of The Beach Boys records with his friends about 35 years ago when police officers walked in and pulled the group of teenagers out of the record shop. The manager of the store had called the police to say he was concerned the group had been inside for 20 minutes.
(Kelsey Kong/Daily Bruin)Bañuelos responded that other store patrons, who were white, had been in the store longer than him. The cop had no answer, merely telling him he was free to go.
Now a police sergeant for university police at UCLA, Bañuelos said he uses this experience to guide the way he treats people in his work. In his 25 years with UCPD as a dispatcher, officer and sergeant, he has strived to treat people with respect, regardless of their background or circumstances.
“The one thing that I’ve concentrated on is reminding people there’s a human side to police work,” he said. “Behind the blue uniform it’s a normal, breathing person that has feelings, responsibilities and worries, just like they do.”
Bañuelos grew up in central Mexico until second grade, when his parents decided to immigrate to Los Angeles to join other family members already in the States. Although he did not know it at the times, he came into the country undocumented.
The family moved from Mexico to San Pedro, where his father worked several jobs, such as cooking at a specialty restaurant, in order to support his wife and four children.
His father, who only went as far as seventh grade in school, and his mother, who went as far as second grade, agreed to find a way to pay for Bañuelos’ education.
“I can still remember being in 10th grade, doing my math homework, watching UCLA football games on Saturday mornings,” he said. “So I knew I wanted to be a Bruin back then.”
Years later, Bañuelos said he was admitted to the only college he applied to – UCLA – to study computer science. He was the first member of his family to attend college.
He took advantage of tutoring and mentoring services such as the Academic Advancement Program and Minority Engineering Program, and worked as a community service officer at UCPD.
As a CSO, Bañuelos walked other students back to the Hill from late-night studying sessions at Powell Library, drove an escort van and eventually became the supervisor in charge of hiring and training.
He remembers walking through the stacks of a campus library when he saw a man sitting in the desk next to a female student, peering up her sundress. Police arrested the man, who was an associate professor, after Bañuelos called a dispatcher.
He got satisfaction from his work keeping his campus safe, which formed the beginnings of his interest in police work.
After graduating in 1989, Bañuelos found that the job market was flooded with computer programmers. He decided to stay on with the police department instead, continuing as an assistant program coordinator in the CSO office.
He became a U.S. citizen in 1992, and says he has never missed a vote since then.
Bañuelos has risen through the ranks at UCPD to become the sergeant in charge of special events, handling staffing for events such as concerts and athletic events. He also is in charge of protecting dignitaries and celebrity visitors, including Bill and Hillary Clinton and University of California President Janet Napolitano.
Bañuelos is also the liaison between police, the university and unions during strikes and protests held by labor unions on campus, such as during recent strikes by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299 union at UCLA.
He said union leaders in AFSCME respect him because he goes out of his way to talk with union members as people with concerns rather than just as protestors.
Bañuelos is known at UCPD for staying positive at the most stressful of times.
“He always leaves you laughing, or smiling,” said Sgt. Debbie Mills, one of his closest friends at the police department, who works in the office next door.
Mills said she met Bañuelos when he was a dispatcher in the early 1990s, and has stayed close with him ever since, even going on a cross-country motorcycle trip with him and another friend in 2005.
She said what stands out most about him is his positive attitude.
“He’ll go into a situation and take the worst thing out of it and go into a positive,” Mills said. “That’s the only way I’ve known him to be.”
Property officer Laura Rippstein said she has worked with Bañuelos for about five years, and looks to him for guidance in stressful situations such as the Undie Run and protests.
“Depending on what’s going on, the situation might be tense, but you can look over at Miguel and you know everything’s good,” she said.
Mills said she admires his temperament when working with people who are upset or angry.
Instead of yelling back, he tends to ask people why they are yelling when they could speak instead.
“He’ll just tell you the logic as he does with his daughter,” she said. “That’s what he does with his little girl, and it works.”
Bañuelos said his job has had deep valleys and high peaks, and that he plans to work at least a few more years at the police department before retiring and spending time with his wife and daughter.
“There’s those few moments where I made a huge difference in someone’s life, even if it’s just giving someone directions to where they need to go,” he said. “When you see a kid’s face light up … that’s priceless, and it makes up for all the times you get spit on, kicked at and fought with.”