Arbiter clears officer in "DP' theft incident

University Police Officer John Washington did not use unnecessary force while arresting a student who took part in the confiscation of nearly 14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian in April 1993, Arbitrator Thomas DiLauro ruled last month. After the confiscation by a group claiming to represent the "black community," Washington was suspended for three days without pay by University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich. At the time, Kuprevich said that Washington acted in poor judgment when he struck then–College senior Khalil Muhammad with a mini-baton on the upper thigh. DiLauro, a member of the American Arbitration Association, ordered the University to compensate Washington for any loss of pay and benefits incurred by the discipline, and to remove the incident from his personnel record. "[T]he conclusion is inescapable that [Washington], except for his use of profanity, acted in an extremely professional manner in a situation which could have easily been avoided had Mr. Muhammad identified himself and explained what he was doing," DiLauro wrote. "[Washington] exercised considerable restraint in his attempt to subdue an uncooperative and unidentified person." In his testimony, Washington said he struck Muhammad after struggling with the student for almost 10 minutes while attempting to arrest him. Washington expressed satisfaction with the arbiter's ruling. "I'm certainly pleased with the decision," he said. "I was justified in not only stopping [Muhammad], but in counteracting what I considered a threat in his attempt to punch me. I don't regret for a moment the actions I took." Kuprevich defended his handling of the case. He said he set up a special inquiry panel, made up of both police and civilian representatives, to investigate Washington's use of force. The panel, headed by University Police Chief George Clisby, recommended a five-day suspension for Washington, according to Clisby's testimony before the arbiter. "We responded to a complaint as we would with any complaint," Kuprevich said. "We did what we thought was the right thing to do. We took appropriate actions. "We are going forward from here," he added. "We accept it. It's not something we are going to sit and worry about." Washington, however, said he harbors resentment towards the individuals connected with his suspension. "No doubt there are some ill-feelings," he said. "I have lost some respect for Commissioner Kuprevich, Chief Clisby, and [former University Associate General Counsel] Neil Hamburg due to the way they testified against me." Washington said that during the hearings he was "painted as a discipline problem, a disgruntled employee and as a racist." In a legal brief submitted to DiLauro and obtained by the DP, Hamburg wrote twice that Washington may have used the mini-baton "because he had a racial animus against Mr. Muhammad." University Police Officer and Vice-President of the University's chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police Bill Kane said the union will try to rebuild relations between the FOP and University Police management. "[The FOP is] happy with the decision," Kane said. "We are disappointed with management because they played dirty pool. We want to put it behind us. Hopefully we will start a new relationship with management."