The Ad Hoc Committee on Safety in a Diverse Environment, formed in response to University Police's faulty apprehension of a College sophomore in November, will convene for a second time in the coming weeks, according to Committee Chairman and Interim Provost Peter Conn.
The committee, comprising 32 administrators, faculty members and students, met on Dec. 20 to discuss their objectives and assess the success of last spring's Ad Hoc Committee on Racial Profiling. That committee had been formed last year in response to the wrongful arrest of Spruce College House Associate Faculty Master Rui DaSilva.
"There's a lot of interest among the committee members in ... developing ideas that are ambitious," Conn said. "That should have some positive effect on improving the level of confidence, the level of mutual trust."
College sophomore Warith Deen Madyun was apprehended and handcuffed along with three other males unaffiliated with the University on Nov. 21. Police said the group fit a description of individuals being sought in connection with the theft of a cell phone belonging to University President Amy Gutmann's limousine driver. Following the incident, Madyun, who is black, claimed that police had used excessive force against him.
After a protest was held regarding the incident, Gutmann met with a group of student leaders, who demanded that the ad hoc committee be formed. Although an internal police investigation concluded that the police officers had acted "within the parameters of departmental policy," a committee still met at the end of last semester.
Madyun said he hopes the committee adequately addresses the issue of police brutality in addition to racial profiling.
I think "that it's an attempt to sort of marginalize the particular issue of police misconduct and put it in the bucket with other issues," Madyun said.
College sophomore Ibraheem Basir, a representative of the Black Student League who is serving on the committee, said he is optimistic about the committee's willingness to address Madyun's concerns.
"Racial profiling falls under the umbrella of police misconduct," Basir said. "I hope the committee will combat all aspects of police misconduct. I hope that it is a multifaceted approach."
Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said she is pleased with the progress made since the Committee on Racial Profiling released its report and added that Madyun's apprehension was an isolated incident.
"When issues happen, rather than saying everything's broken, we should deal with the individuals," Rush said.
"I believe that every system continually needs to be fed, and enhanced, and nurtured," she continued. "This system ... gets that."
Rush said that community members can issue complaints against the police through a variety of means, including a form available on the Department of Public Safety's Web site and a 24-hour customer service feedback hotline, as well as via the United Minorities Council, the Undergraduate Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly.
"We interact with the community, we meet with student groups all the time," Rush said. "The effort is there."
Conn added that Michael Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, will be attending the second meeting to discuss effective communication strategies among committee members.
"I do think that when dealing with highly sensitive and controversial issues, like the issue of race, there can be a tendency for people to talk past each other or be afraid to confront some really basic issues," Delli Carpini said.
He added that he would also discuss ways to improve interactions between the Department of Public Safety and minority students at Penn.
However, Conn said that the committee will not spend excessive time deliberating but rather will focus on developing concrete solutions quickly.
President Amy Gutmann "and I both think it is important to reach closure as effectively as we can," Conn said. "We need to make sure everybody has a chance to be heard. ... We need to move through the process as efficiently as possible."
Committee members Members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Safety in a Diverse Environment include 32 administrators, faculty members and students.
Administrators Peter Conn, Interim Provost Mark Dorsey, University Chief of Police Phil Nichols, Faculty Director, College Houses and Academic Services
Faculty members Dennis Culhane, Professor of Social Welfare Policy and Psychology Ann Farnsworth-Alvear, Director, Latin American and Latino Studies
Students Ibrahim Basir, Muslim Students Association and Black Student League Fatimah Muhammad, United Minorities Council Elizabeth Curtis-Bey and Kelechi Okere, Black Student League
