Groups speak out on police 'bias'

Student minority groups are speaking out against the Division of Public Safety in response to an incident last week in which a black College student was detained, calling it part of a larger trend of bias-based profiling.

This profiling, students say, hasn't always been racial in nature - various groups, minority or otherwise, have been targeted with excessive force and unwarranted escalation in the past, according to groups like the United Minorities Council and Lambda Alliance.

For example, allegations of Penn Police officers using excessive force to control a crowd arose during a Big Man on Campus event hosted by Alpha Chi Omega sorority in November 2005.

Police were called to the scene to help disperse a crowd of 400 to 600 people outside the venue, World Cafe Live. Two students were arrested, and several others were detained and released in the aftermath.

Lambda Alliance chairman and College junior Kevin Rurak said the way police handled that event demonstrated their bias against members of fraternities and sororities.

And, in October 2003, Rui DaSilva, an associate faculty master in Spruce College House, was arrested as he was attempting to bring a set of delivered bicycles into the Quadrangle.

DaSilva, who is black, claimed that race was a factor in the arrest, and student groups agreed.

Charges of disorderly conduct against DaSilva were dropped soon after the incident.

Former University President Judith Rodin ordered the creation of a committee to study general trends within the Penn Police that later recommended that police receive increased training in dealing with race.

But UMC Chairwoman and College sophomore Efe Johnson says the increased training hasn't had enough of an effect.

"There is a perceived element of defensiveness and [an] air of 'damage control' surrounding the reaction to the incidents on campus on the part of DPS," Johnson wrote in an e-mail. "Time after time, there continues to be insubstantial change."

Rurak said his group, along with other minority groups, hopes to start a dialogue with the University administration about biased-based profiling.

He called last week's incident a "catalyst [that] highlighted the broader issues [they] are trying to address."

Johnson echoed Rurak's sentiments.

"Bias is undeniable" in actions taken by the Penn Police, as in all other police forces, she wrote. "Overarching issues of bias-based profiling and excessive force . have been highlighted by incidents at Penn."

DPS spokeswoman Karima Zedan has said no excessive force was used during last week's incident. She has also said those involved were following procedure, and that race was not a factor.

However, Johnson has said that "the element of race in [last week's] issue is undeniable," and that the incident also raised questions of escalation.

And, as she noted, these sorts of questions have been ongoing and have yet to be adequately addressed.

"Similar incidents, both documented and undocumented, continue to occur," Johnson wrote.

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