Finding ‘the right folks around the table’: BCAP town hall discusses future of Duke policing, housing, student conduct - The Chronicle

Duke University Independent News Agency

The student-led Black Anti-Policing Coalition hosted a virtual city hall on policing and policy enforcement with Duke University representatives on Wednesday night.

In a brief introduction, the Dean of Students, John Blackshear and Mary Pat McMahon, the Associate Dean and Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs, stated that university officials have been communicating with BCAP since July. At the meeting, the organization initially released their information.

"Disclosure, divestment and dissolution".

"We appreciate the work of [students]," McMahon said. "We have to do a lot of work to make the student experience meaningfully inclusive and fair, and we aspire to do this."

Panel discussion chaired by Trey Walk, young trustee of Trinity '19, featuring Duke University Police Chief John Dailey; Deb LoBiondo, Interim Dean of Residence; Jeanna McCullers, Senior Associate Dean of Students and Student Behavior and Community Standards Office Director; Durham and Vice President of Community Affairs Stefanie Williams (Stelfanie Williams).

Daly said that DUPD is "in the student support business."

Daly said he was "disgusted" by the police brutality he observed in the summer of 2020, and that the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others have been carried out internally discuss. He admitted that some students were surprised that DUPD officials felt unsafe, and his goal for the department was to determine the safety and security status of different personnel. 

He added that there should be an "easy way" for people to resolve their doubts, and said that in general, he thinks universities are "very open" to hearing complaints about systems that don't work. In addition, he said that sharing information with DUPD, or even sharing information anonymously, will also help the department "identify trends." He said the department receives about 44,000 calls every year.

Dailey claimed that the DUPD plays an important role on the campus and that armed forces are necessary, citing various robberies and armed personnel incidents that occurred on the campus or near Duke University Hospital. He said: "It would be great in a place where no armed personnel are needed."

When asked about his position on the abolition of the police (one of the goals listed by BCAP in its initial statement), Daly said that this was not his goal and that he opposed the abolition of the police. Although he acknowledged the need to make changes and people were treated unfairly, he emphasized the need to maintain law and order.

Daly said: "Until society is like this, people will not hurt each other, and we don't need people to solve difficult situations...There are still jobs that people like me need to do." "Of course there are others who can do different things." Type of work. I know that violent saboteurs are looking for something different in Durham. Absolutely, we should do the same, all of us should be in the meeting."

Daly said many people believe that students are safer to deal with DUPD than city police. He said that he hoped that students would better enter the Student Conduct Office instead of being sued. 

Subscribe to our editorially curated weekly news. Cancel at any time.

He also said that the relationship between DUPD and Durham Police Department is "very good" and they have a strong partnership.

Daly also told the Panel that Dupat’s (DUPD) force policy is

, This is a campaign to reduce police killings. The eight policies are downgrading, formulating a clear policy on the use of weapons, prohibiting the use of main fortresses and fortresses, requiring verbal warnings before shooting, not shooting at moving vehicles, intervening in excessive force, exhausting all alternatives and conducting comprehensive report. 

Daley told the Chronicle in an e-mail in December that in the past five years, during the arrest of DUPD officers, force was used seven times, most of which were “one push and grab”. He wrote that during an arrest, a police officer used pepper spray after being bitten by the arrested person.

He said at the city hall: "Finally, we will be here to support the institution and its mission." "Duke University does not have a police station. It is used for education, research and healthcare."

He said the department has been working to increase data collection to build trust. Daly said the department currently has 160 employees, 46% of whom are people of color and 30% are women. In 2019, DUPD prevented 82 people from parking at traffic stops, of which 50% were white and 32% were black. Daly insisted that at these stops, the department would not stop black people disproportionately for "secondary" reasons, and he was "satisfied with these numbers." 

Daly wrote in December that by 2020, there will be no arrests involving the use of force. In addition, Daly wrote, the department has been using dash cams since 2005 and body cameras since 2015. 

Dailey admitted at the City Hall that armed personnel do not need to respond under certain circumstances, such as EMS calls, noise complaints and student disputes. 

McCullers said: "My transition to (as OSC director) depends largely on race, identity and fairness issues." She

Her current position is June 1st. Her goal is to improve the consistency of case judgments, re-examine the way campus partners interact with students, and be more proactive.

McCullers said that one of the shortcomings of OSC is that it "gets itself within the scope of what we believe to be student behavior," and it should first be a source of student support. She pointed out that in the 2,000 student behavior cases in the previous school year, "under five years of age" experienced a formal behavioral process. 

Instead, most students will adopt adaptive conflict resolution solutions, which involve reflection and dialogue. The most common thing is that students who mention OSC will go through the decision of teachers and students. If the solution fails or the behavior is more severe, the student will go through a formal course of behavior. 

In contrast, the latest

According to data released by OSC in 2017-18, 71% of so-called misconduct cases were handled through these informal means. Before this process even begins, the office tries to identify temporary interventions, such as providing support or taking reactive measures such as suspension or no-contact orders.

McCullers added that the proportion of colored students in OSC's aggregated data is not high, accounting for about 10% of the overall report. She said that the office will cooperate with external organizations every year to send questionnaires to students to help the office improve its policies and practices. However, McCullers admitted that OSC does not have disproportionate data on the ways in which students are affected by disciplinary measures.

McCullers emphasized that OSC is always looking for discretion in the process and "establishes checks and balances on this discretion." For example, she said OSC is considering introducing more voices and voices in the selection process of the Student Conduct Committee Ideas and increase data sharing and transparency with campus partners.

She said: "As long as there is discretion, prejudice may arise."

McCullers talked about the process of responding to hatred and prejudice, which is the same as other violations, but with other measures. When a hate incident is reported to OSC, campus entities are notified, including the Office of Institutional Rights, DUPD and HRL. 

She said one area that students can weigh is determining how to deal with systemic community harm.

She said: "I don't have to watch the event, nor do I have to experience it like everyone else."

McCullers also talked about Duke’s pickets, protests and demonstrations

In a question to the group, a student who claimed to be a student activist who wanted to improve the university was convicted. She said that OSC did not hold any students accountable under the policy during their tenure or even before.

She said: "We are fully aware of the tension between university policies in the book and what students might want to do and how they express themselves in major events in the country." "What they should know is that we are with them."

Daly added that there is a balance to be struck between allowing protesters and allowing others to access the opportunities provided by the university.

He said: "When something interrupts that thing, it will definitely happen." "What we want to happen is different degrees of control, starting with self-control, followed by peer control, administrative control, and we want The last thing we need is to get the police involved."

Daly gave an example

Among students protesting against Palantir Technologies at the 2019 TechConnect Career Fair. He said that neither self-control nor peer control works, and when the administrative response of the Student Affairs Department does not work, the police must step in "to allow the university to continue homework."

McCullers added that this semester, OSC will form a policy review committee composed of students, faculty, and faculty to "review and re-examine our policies and practices." McCullers said, wanting to protest the demonstrations, Students who weigh in the policy of protests and demonstrations should reach out to her. 

Daly said he hopes that the policy review process can make "a more satisfying response next time."

LoBiondo said that after arriving at Duke University in 1996, one of her goals was to "enhance the diversity of the housing team," and this is still one of her goals today. One of the areas that LoBiondo believes can be improved is the diversity among graduate students, resident assistants and residence coordinators. 

HRL also relies on the Cultural Fluency Committee, which is

There is a lasso hanging on Blaine's central square. 

This is in addition to incorporating the core values ​​of communication and fairness into the housing experience, which includes introducing fair basic training for first-year students and improving the RA training model.

LoBiondo said that RA must exercise during the initial training period and throughout the semester to ensure that they have the appropriate ability to deal with various problems. This includes understanding social justice issues, white privileges and micro-aggression. 

The students expressed concern that RA can monitor the condition of other students. LoBiondo said that RA is taught to interact with students in a real way, but to avoid putting themselves in danger. She said districts and counties only contact the police when there are health and safety issues. 

She said: "We don't want our undergraduate RA to be harmed." "The police are our important partners, especially in terms of health, safety and high risk."

of

LoBiondo said that this is also a means of housing equality, because it aims to reduce the "footprint" of the Brotherhood Council and the National Pan-Hellenic Conference on the Abeli ​​Quartet housing and create greater inclusiveness in the housing.

She said: "We have never rallied for our [National Pan-Hellenic Council] or [Multicultural Greek Council] groups." The Pan-Hellenic National Assembly is a historical protection organization for black brotherhoods and societies.

LoBiondo said that Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. used to have a living room, but it was missing because it was unable to add an extra bed. In contrast, the IFC and Panhel organizations always have more space.

She also briefly commented on the random roommate policy for the first year, saying that the policy was “great” but housing “is not enough to ensure that students are prepared to have real conversations with people of different backgrounds.

Williams said: “During their tenure at Duke University, students must participate and become part of Durham so that they can experience it for themselves, which is very important.” She emphasized that “in person” know Durham. And the importance of making a positive contribution to Durham.

She said: "We are residents of the Durham community, and we can share with members of the wider community with extensive experience and expertise." "The skills and understanding gained by participating in Durham will be for the rest of your life. Provide services."

She added that many of Durham's contemporary leaders are affiliated with Duke University, which demonstrates "connections and opportunities for students to contribute."

When talking about the complicated relationship between Duke University and Durham, Williams emphasized that Durham and the Department of Community Affairs are working through neighborhood partnerships to support the interests of residents in the twelve neighborhoods around the university. She said the goal is to recognize the residents' top priorities and identify resources or other ways that Duke can gather "the right people together to solve the problem." 

Share and discuss

On social media.