Police response
Regarding “UH cop pulled a gun on a Black theater student rehearsing. The school’s solution? Neon vests,” (Jan. 31): As a Black man, I’m deeply concerned about the biased mistreatment we often experience from police officers. But after reading the article concerning the response of a UH police officer to a witness who heard someone screaming for help and reported an assault, the officer’s response was completely warranted. It’s one thing to act out a nonviolent scene in front of the unsuspecting general public, but it’s a terrible lapse of judgment to act out a violent scene. I’m disappointed that UH administration and faculty didn’t foresee the potential deadly consequences of allowing students to act out violent scenes among the unsuspecting general public.
Kevin Torrence, Spring
Was it a mistake by the police? They got a report of a male threatening a female out in public. They responded. They apparently were led to believe that the male had a weapon in active use. It looks to me like they were doing their job.
I think the students and the academic department responsible for the event should be scheduled for brain cell injections, hopefully smarter ones. It seems to me that a simple set of signs that says “theatrical rehearsal” around the periphery of wherever the student actors are working would probably have sufficed to keep a report of violence from going to the police.
However, it is kind of nice that a true back pages story like this (and the other one about an estranged family situation) makes Page 1. Soon enough, the politicos will make sure they cover up Page 1 with their constant preening.
Walt Lind, Nassau Bay
Let me see if I understand this correctly.
The article says that on Nov. 4, 2022, two students were practicing a scene calling for “heightened, choreographed” violence at the loading dock (not an alley as initially reported by the onlooker) next to the UH School of Theatre & Dance. Onlooker calls 911, telling the operator a Black male with tattoos was grabbing a woman, who may be white, and covering her mouth. The caller did not know if the male had a weapon. While caller is still on the 911 line, UH police officers arrive and the onlooker now tells police not once, but twice, “He’s got a knife!” What’s an officer to think at this point? Man with a knife! Seconds later, the officer tells the dispatcher that it was only a rehearsal after the students quickly let them know.
Yes, the officer had his weapon drawn and the “victim” acknowledged the gun was held below the officer’s waist but started to move in his direction. Started to move in his direction? There is no indication a weapon was pointed at anyone. According to the article, UHPD advised the officer that he was following standard procedures when responding to an alleged assault involving a weapon.
So, I ask, “How would the onlooker have known this was a rehearsal? How would the officers know this was a rehearsal?” The police did not make a mistake here. These officers were responding to an eyewitness onlooker’s report of an assault. The mistake was made by the UH School of Theatre & Dance for not letting the UH police know there was “heightened, choreographed” violence in a scene being played out at the loading dock. It’s the school’s fault their student is unfortunately suffering from panic attacks.
Nowadays, it’s so easy to blame the police for everything. Shame on the Chronicle for headlining “Mistake by police leads to outrage at UH” in the print edition when it clearly was not their fault.
Clarence Venables, Fulshear
There was NO mistake. Someone sees a woman and man arguing and it seemed violent. They call the police. The police arrive, and the witness yells “He’s got a knife!” Of course they pull out a gun, which they point to the ground. They come around a corner to a loading dock, an out-of-the-way area, and the couple yell out that they’re rehearsing. No one was shot or hurt or thrown to the ground. The person who called and the police all did what they were supposed to. I found that headline very provoking in the wake of what happened in Memphis with Tyre Nichols. You owe the police an apology. I would hope if anyone saw someone yelling and being aggressive with me, they would call the police and that the police would arrive just like those officers. Actually, the two people who were rehearsing owe the apology. In this day and age, next time think where you are when rehearsing a violent scene.
Elizabeth Huber, Bryan