The University of Colorado and Boulder police departments sent employees to an Ann Coulter event in California last weekend to help prepare the university for the controversial commentator’s appearance later this week.

Coulter is scheduled to appear at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Chem 140, at a speaking event hosted by conservative group Turning Point USA.

In preparation, CU spokesman Ryan Huff said the university sent two employees to Mountain View, Calif., where Coulter spoke at a private event. Boulder police spokeswoman Shannon Aulabaugh said Boulder police also sent one person.

Huff said the employees were able to watch a “a well-attended event that occurred without disruption.”

“On occasion, we send staff to high-profile or controversial events before they make their stops at CU Boulder,” Huff added. “That was the case ahead of the Dalai Lama’s 2016 visit and our hosting of the 2015 Republican presidential debate. There’s no better preparation for hosting a new event than going to another location to see how that host agency manages it. That gives us a sense of what to expect from an operational standpoint and how to best provide hospitality to our attendees.”

Huff said he didn’t know the cost of sending the employees, but said he estimated it would be about $500 per person.

“It’s well worth the expense to learn from other agencies and be prepared for our events,” Huff said.

A well-known and at times controversial social and political commentator, the 56-year-old Coulter has written 12 books, most recently “Adios, America!” and “In Trump We Trust.”

She last appeared at CU in 2003, and spoke about the Iraq War before a crowd of about 2,000 people at Macky Auditorium. In a Daily Camera story published on the event, there was some tension between the conservative Coulter and a generally liberal audience.

“It perks me up to see liberals have nothing in the arsenal,” she said in the article, while a student said some of Coulter’s statements were “just plain ignorant.”

The most recent controversial speaker at CU, Milo Yiannopoulos, was met by protesters — three of whom were arrested — but otherwise went off safely.

“We are pleased to be a campus that time and again can host major events that espouse a wide spectrum of viewpoints,” Huff said.

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars