Campus police making adjustments to acknowledge struggles of Black students, improve ‘approachability’
KNEELING TO STAND UP TO RACISM: SCPD officers and staff kneel for a photo to demonstrate their solidarity for Black Lives Matter and students of color.
By Anissa Durham
Trust, said the sage, takes years to build and seconds to shatter.
Southwestern College police are on a mission to rebuild trust on campus following a decade of shattering experiences, most in far flung parts of America, but a few on the home turf.
SCPD Sergeants Marco Bareno and Robert Sanchez are jointly serving as acting chiefs of police following the unexpected retirement of former chief Davis Nighswonger. Bareno said campus police are a service-based team focused on protecting students and staff, but he acknowledged that improvements are in order.
“We pride ourselves in always making students our priority,” he said. “We are trying to provide a safe educational environment. Our main goal is to make sure that equity is always there and we are offering services to everyone.”
Sanchez agreed, but said he and his colleagues know that equity in America is, at this point in time, aspirational and not reality.
“I believe the way our judicial system has treated people of color — particularly Black people — has not been equitable,” he said. “To say we don’t have systemic racism in our society is ignorant.”
SC police came under severe criticism last October when officers wrestled a Black student to the ground and handcuffed him in front of other students over an alleged misuse of a disabled driver parking placard. In February some Black employees criticized campus police during a public forum for making them feel unsafe on campus, citing the case of a Black professor who was allegedly harassed and mistreated by campus officers. In both instances police were exonerated.
Since those episodes SCPD have come out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Officers have engaged in training to improve sensitivity toward people of color and to address implicit bias. Bareno and Sanchez recently attended the Amend organization’s “Defund or Disband” training that explored redirecting police funding to community maladies such as homelessness and mental health.
Police staff responded to the murder of George Floyd by kneeling in solidarity with the Black community in a photo accompanied by a pledge to fight systemic racism and social injustice. SCPD personnel are also redoubling efforts to assure Black students and staff that they are supported and will be treated fairly.
Earlier this year officers were required to retake racial profiling and implicit bias training. The department updated its mission statement to emphasize compassion and respect, Bareno said, in an effort to restore trust with the community.
“We are committed to achieving excellence through professional and unbiased law enforcement services to our students, staff, faculty as well as the surrounding community by treating everyone with dignity and respect and performing our duties in line with the college community’s values and priorities,” reads the modified mission statement.
Police nationwide have come under scrutiny following a series of high-profile killings of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. America’s criminal justice system has drawn the scorn of activists and a growing number of elected officials following 25 years of skyrocketing incarceration rates for men of color.
The world is now looking our way.
A 2018 United Nations report on the U.S. criminal justice system found that African Americans comprise 57 percent of the nation’s prison population. Black men are imprisoned at 5.9 times the rate of white adults.
SC sociology professor April Brenner said honest conversations about race are difficult, but essential. Black Americans must advocate for themselves, she said, and Americans of every ethnicity need to support them in meaningful ways.
“The Black Lives Matter movement is a resilient and vibrant organization… that is integral to the elimination of systemic racism in the U.S.,” she said.
Brenner said SC can do its part to model a new way forward for the diverse South County community. Clearly supporting Black Lives Matter is a must, she said.
Black Lives Matter was created in July 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullora and Opal Tometi in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida. Though embraced as both a battle cry and a peaceful affirmation by activists as well as Americans who support Black citizens, it has also engendered anger and pushback by conservatives and White Supremacists. There have been many attempts to co-opt or diminish its message, said Brenner, including the notorious Blue Lives Matter organization embraced by some police.
Blue Lives Matter was founded in 2014 by two NYPD officers about six months after Black Lives matter. The stated purpose of the movement was to call for the prosecution of cop killers under hate crimes statutes.
Legions of activists, however, reject that and insist Blue Lives Matter is a mean-spirited counterattack against the Black Lives Matter movement. A study by the Marshall Project examined the controversial Blue Lives Matter flag that is a parody of the American flag done up in two shades of blue with a single black line. Some police have said it stands for solidarity and pride for fallen police officers, but the flag has also been flown by White supremacists side-by-side with Confederate flags, including at the 2017 “Unite the Right” riot in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Melina Abdullah, co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter, said the Blue Lives Matter organization and its flag are patently offensive to African-Americans because they mock the suffering of the Black community.
“It feels akin to a Confederate flag,” she said.
Abdullah said she has seen images of Blue Lives Matter flags on police and government vehicles, which she called evidence that officials are not doing enough to combat White Supremacy.
Sanchez said he supports both the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements, but understood why African-Americans might not.
“I think the Blue Lives Matter movement is not a good thing when you are pitting one movement against another,” he said.
Brenner said symbolism matters and Southwestern College has inadvertently or otherwise sometimes made choices for names and imagery that may be anachronistic or insensitive. Empowering diverse voices helps to prevent these kinds of institutional mistakes, she said. Students are an essential part of the process, she said.
“Diverse voices are really important to me,” she said. “I try to be as inclusive as I can and intentional in making sure that we have diverse voices so we don’t settle into one (way of thinking).”
College president Dr. Kindred Murillo asked faculty, staff and members of neighboring communities for input regarding what they would like to see in the next campus police chief. Brenner said that was wise.
“We were concerned that the (previous) job description did not reflect the mission of the college,” she said. “We were hoping to see different things in the job description in regards to training, education and characteristics the next chief would embody.”
SC’s next chief should focus on developing trust, said Bareno. Sanchez said more transparency is another priority because it is foundational to trust.
Sanchez said SCPD officers, like doctors, must strive to do no harm.
“We do not tolerate any form of racial discrimination or racial profiling,” he said. “That is not accepted as a practice at this department and will lead to discipline if an officer is found guilty of that.”
Termination could result, Sanchez said.
Bareno said SCPD officers need to be even more approachable than a doctor or priest. Images of violent and unethical police on television has caused anxiety on campus.
“I think bad apples that do things illegally, practicing excessive use of force and promoting this perception of law enforcement hinders (officers) across the country,” he said.
Police brutality is a crime, Bareno said.
Campus police are reenvisioning the look of their uniform to soften first impressions and make officers more approachable, Sanchez said. Plans include removing the exterior bullet resistant vest and leg holsters. A less militaristic look is the goal, he said. There will be no references to Blue Lives Matter flags on the uniform.
“We understand how polarizing that could be,” he said. “It is not authorized for uniform wear nor is it going to be part of our uniform.”
Even though the campus is closed to students and employees, SCPD have been busy, said Bareno. Budget cuts eliminated hourly and student workers as well as overnight and weekend security guards. Sworn officers are picking up the slack.
Police have played a leadership role in the distribution of laptops, food, gas cards, groceries and wifi to students, said Sanchez.
“The men of this police department have been doing a phenomenal job going above and beyond for the community, the college and our students in regards to the COVID-19 response,” he said.
SCPD officers have also been assisting neighboring municipal departments and were called to assist with the La Mesa riot in May.