University President Amy Gutmann has approved the recommendations issued by the committee charged with looking at the relationship between the Department of Public Safety and black males on campus.
Gutmann and Interim Provost Peter Conn formally pledged their support of the work done by the Ad Hoc Committee on Safety in a Diverse Environment last week. The committee was made up of 32 administrators, faculty members and students.
"The Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations represent another set of steps in the right direction," Conn and Gutmann wrote.
The committee was formed after College sophomore Warith Deen Madyun was mistakenly apprehended by the Penn Police last November. Madyun was part of a group of four males who fit the description of individuals sought in a cell phone left. They were eventually released.
The committee's report -- issued on Feb. 28 -- recommended mandatory diversity training for all Penn Police officers and a review of all minority arrests. These suggestions are part of a new program to combat alleged police misconduct on campus.
Conn said that all of the committee's policy recommendations have been assigned to campus officials to ensure that they are carried out.
"If everybody feels responsible, then nobody is specifically responsible," Conn said. "We know that recommendations like these need to have some accountability attached to them."
Gutmann and Conn's response highlighted the importance of students in continually improving DPS policies.
"The ultimate responsibility for making progress rests with each member of the community," they wrote.
Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said she hoped to solicit student input about improving the relationship between the Penn Police and minorities on campus.
"We're very open to ideas from the community," Rush said.
The DPS will hold monthly open houses for students at its office to discuss public safety issues and meet DPS officials.
"You can't always stop things from happening, as long as people understand [Penn Police officers] are out here to do the best they can do," Rush said. "We need to ... allow people to see us."
Conn said the initial response to the report has been positive and that he is optimistic about its policy suggestions.
"These are extremely complicated and important issues ... that [cannot] be fully addressed or solved in a brief period of time," Conn said. "We're working hard -- we're pointed in a good direction."
