Student: Race played role in U.Police stop

A College senior is claiming that he was unnecessarily stopped by University of Pennsylvania Police officers early Saturday morning.

Dimitri Dube has alleged that certain Penn Police officers targeted him at least in part because of his race, a problem Dube maintains is prevalent in the Penn community.

"I don't believe that anything I did anywhere warranted me to be stopped," Dube said. He also said he believes he was stopped by police for "a combination of things."

"My race definitely had something to do with it. [The officers] saw me, saw how I was dressed, and automatically assumed I was not a Penn student and that I was a criminal," he said.

In an e-mail sent Saturday morning to Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush, Penn Chief of Police Tom Rambo, Vice Provost for University Life Valerie Swain Cade McCollum, Undergraduate Assembly Chairwoman Dana Hork, board members of UMOJA and others, Dube recounted Saturday's incident from his point of view.

In the e-mail, Dube said he was first approached by an officer while reading a magazine in the 7-Eleven at 38th and Chestnut streets. He had gone to the store around 2 a.m. after leaving a friend's apartment.

Dube claims that he was approached by a Penn Police officer, who asked him if he was planning on buying anything, to which Dube replied he was only reading an article.

The officer then reportedly told Dube to leave the store because the clerks didn't like him reading their magazines.

Dube said he replaced the magazine on the rack and walked to the 7-Eleven on 42nd and Walnut to finish reading the article.

While there, he said, he finished the article, bought another magazine and headed home to Harrison College House.

Dube claims that at 40th and Walnut streets, a car pulled in front of him onto the sidewalk, and that he was unable to determine at that time that the car was a police vehicle.

He said that when two individuals stepped out of the car, he "had no clue these were police officers."

"And being 2:30 a.m., I honestly thought I was about to get mugged," Dube said in an interview. "My first instinct was probably to run, but thank god I didn't."

Dube said the two individuals yelled for him to place his hands on the car. As they came closer to him, he was able to see their badges and identify them as police officers. Dube alleges that they gently pushed him closer to the car, his legs were spread and he was questioned about his destination.

Dube said he informed the officers he was a Penn student and told them he was on his way home. He claims that he then explicitly asked them if he could show them his ID. Dube said they agreed, and he showed them his PennCard. He said he was then informed that they had been radioed when he left the 38th and Walnut location of 7-Eleven.

Dube also said the officer told him he would radio the station to say that Dube was a Penn student and that he was "cool."

Dube said he forgot to ask for the officers' badge numbers or identification.

He said he thinks race was a "very big part of" why he was stopped.

Dube is the political action research coordinator for UMOJA, the umbrella organization for African-American student groups on campus.

Rush said that she and Rambo are taking the issue very seriously and plan to expedite their investigation.

"We are gathering all the facts around the circumstances of that evening," Rush said. "The Division of Public Safety, particularly Penn Police, have been actively engaged in working on diversity issues for the past three years."

Hork said, "Penn Police appear to be very forward in addressing Dimitri's concerns, and I hope to see this resolved in an amicable way."

Dube said that he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the incident.

Yesterday, Dube met with Rambo to discuss the details of the incident, and today, members of the Black Student League, UMOJA, the Latino Coalition and the Asian Pacific Student Coalition will meet with Public Safety officials to discuss the incident and any larger issues at hand.

"My feelings on it is the issue is much greater than anything that happened Friday night," Dube said. "It is a symptom of a larger problem in the Penn Police Department."

United Minorities Council Chairman Papa Wassa Nduom said that if Dube perceived race was an issue, there is a problem, "because when dealing with situations like this, you have to keep in mind that a person's perception is reality.

"Police are in a position of power. If Dimitri was to not comply with their demands, he could have been arrested for that," Nduom said.

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