An incident Wednesday night has sparked outrage among campus minority groups, who allege that Penn Police and security guards used racial profiling in detaining a black male College student.
The United Minorities Council issued a statement yesterday demanding that the University address several of the organization's concerns relating to the "institutional discrimination" that "persists within our university."
The statement came as a result of an incident outside Huntsman Hall Wednesday night, in which a black male undergraduate student was temporarily handcuffed by Penn Police after a verbal altercation between the student and Allied Barton security guards.
The student in question, who requested anonymity for this article, claimed that police unecessarily handcuffed him simply because security allegedly assumed, due to his race, that he was not affiliated with the University.
But Division of Public Safety officials allege that the student had become confrontational with two Allied Barton security guards and police followed protocol by temporarily detaining him before it was determined that no crime had occurred.
According to the student, a female security guard first confronted him when he attempted to gain entry into Huntsman through the Walnut Street entrance at a little past 7 p.m.
DPS Spokeswoman Karima Zedan said that the security guard stopped the student because that entrance closes at 7 p.m.
The student eventually walked around to the Locust Walk entrance, which was still open at the time.
At around 7:50 p.m., the student was leaving the building through the Walnut Street side when he saw the same security guard.
The student said that he asked the guard for her name because he felt that she had acted improperly earlier.
Zedan said that the guard "felt uncomfortable" and the guard's supervisor soon arrived to assist in the situation.
After the supervisor arrived, Zedan said that the student "continued to be confrontational" and the supervisor radioed police.
The student maintains that he remained calm and orderly throughout the incident.
The student then left the premises and walked east on Walnut Street toward 37th Street when he was approached by police.
Zedan said that police handcuffed the student until officials could determine that he was in fact affiliated with the University and that no one had sustained any injuries as a result of the exchange.
The student was then released from the temporary custody.
Following the incident, minority groups have alleged that the se actions by police and security are "regular occurrences on Penn's campus and must be dealt with immediately."
UMC President and College sophomore Efe Johnson highlighted two unrelated incidents: a 2003 episode in which a black associate faculty master was arrested and pepper-sprayed by police while attempting to deliver donated bicycles to the Quadrangle, and a 2004 incident in which police arrested a black College sophomore because he matched the description of a suspect in a cell phone theft.
After both of those incidents, the University created committees to address racial profiling, especially in regard to interaction between police and black males.
But Johnson said that this most recent incident proves that University efforts to curb such treatment of minorities has been ineffective.
"Clearly, we can see that their reaction in 2004 has not produced any positive and long-term changes," she said. "Obviously, they need to do more."
Provost Ron Daniels said that he wants to open a dialogue with minority groups and "figure out how we can best address" their concerns.
To that end, he is scheduling a meeting with minority leaders for Monday to discuss any problems they have.
As for the incident in question, Daniels said it is too early to determine if any party was at fault.
While many of the facts of the case are in dispute, Zedan said that DPS has reviewed reports from security, the radio calls and evidence from closed-circuit security cameras and determined that police and security both acted properly.
She said that the case was called in as a "fight-in-progress" due to the student's alleged confrontational nature and police followed protocol by temporarily detaining the student.
Zedan also stressed that "the stop was not random or arbitrary" [and] did not involve any capricious use of force."
But Johnson said she believes the incident -- in which the student was not carrying identification -- is representative of an unfair burden put on black male students.
"We do feel that minority males are criminalized, and that they do have to prove their legitimacy to walk on campus," she said.
She also emphasized that it is troublesome that incidents like this can escalate to police intervention so easily.
The student in question has not issued a formal complaint, but Zedan said the Division of Public Safety Advisory Board will review the incident when it convenes in April.
-- Senior staff writer Samuel Dangremond contributed reporting to this article.
