Universities rethinking their policing practices
Campus security re-examined in wake of George Floyd killing
PHILADELPHIA—George Floyd didn’t die on a college campus, but his killing at the hands of Minneapolis police last year brought a wave of scrutiny to university police forces. After intense examination, some schools have begun to make changes.
At Temple University, campus police started wearing body cameras and began reviewing visible tattoos of officers for potential extremism or bias. The University of Pennsylvania is adding three community members to its public safety advisory board and exploring the possibility of sending a plain clothes counsellor along with an officer on mental health-related calls. And Drexel University police have received more training on how to de-escalate conflicts, intervene if they see a colleague using excessive force and address bias.
Colleges also are conducting surveys to better understand concerns of students, staff and community members. Pennsylvania State University just launched its second.
Charles Leone, who has served as executive director of Temple’s public safety for six years, overseeing the 115-officer department he has been a part of for 35 years, said it’s the first time he’s seen so many policy creations and alterations and new training added in such a short period.
“We really took a hard look at where we are and where we need to be and what we want to be, especially for our community,” he said.
Some faculty and students say changes on their campuses don’t go far enough while others see the efforts as a first step and hope more improvement comes.
“They are aiming in the right direction,” said the Rev. Charles “Chaz” Howard, Penn’s chaplain and vice-president for social equity and community, who co-led Penn’s public safety review.
“I’m sure we are not done with this conversation and I am hopeful.”
What the reports say
After Floyd’s death, colleges started or restarted task forces on campus policing. In recent months, some have released reports showing myriad concerns about unfair treatment of people of colour on or near campus, the use of force and lack of transparency.
Drexel president John A. Fry acknowledged the hard-hitting criticism in a June 1 message to campus and the university has pledged a “reimagining of public safety.”
The report’s findings, he noted, include problems found in towns and on campuses across the U.S., including “disproportionate stops and questioning of community members of colour, particularly Black men; armed officers being dispatched to address noncriminal and/or nonviolent situations, potentially escalating them; and a lack of good data with which to track and improve outcomes.”
In a spreadsheet on 82 stops or interactions by Drexel police in which a person was experiencing a behavioural health crisis, about one-third refer to the person as a “Black male” or “Black female,” while most others don’t list race, the report said.
Based on input from 550 people, Drexel’s report also included positive accounts, saying police build community and protect the campus.
Next steps
To improve transparency, Penn is releasing more documents about police procedures and stops on a website, and is changing the composition of its public safety advisory board. It’s also giving power to someone outside the police department to appoint members.
Maureen S. Rush, vice-president of public safety, noted that the121-officer department averages about four complaints against officers annually and, in her 27 years there, she can’t remember the last time any involved use of force. Her officers have been wearing body cameras since 2018.
But she said that given what’s happened nationally, officers have to work even harder to establish positive community connections.
But Chi-ming Yang, an associate professor of English with Police Free Penn, a 60-member group of students, faculty, staff, and alumni that formed last year, said the department’s efforts fell far short.
“It really ignores many of the key recommendations that were made by the task force itself,” she said. “It’s deeply troubling.”
A commitment to diversify
Penn State reactivated a task force on policing and communities of colour it started in 2015 and expanded it to police departments in surrounding communities. In May, it equipped officers on its campuses with body cameras. The university is planning an advisory board and attempting to add diversity to its 167-officer force, which in 2020 was more than three-quarters white and only 2.4 per cent Black.
To attract more candidates, the university began advertising on all campuses and stopped requiring a four-year degree in favour of a high school diploma and some experience in the field, she said.
At Temple, the department is establishing a policy on officers who fail to address excessive force by a colleague and more explicitly outlining levels of acceptable force, Leone said. It also purchased more Tasers.
Temple is also working on an early warning system to track potential problems with officers that would assign points for complaints, use of force and vehicle accidents, he said.
Senior Bradley Smutek, president of Temple student government, said the biggest problem is a communication gap between police and students, which leads to misconceptions. But the department, he said, has been open to feedback.
“There are incidental failings, but I do think on the whole, our police department does not have as many problems as some do,” he said.