The Retriever Defunding Police Interview Questions
RELEVANT QUESTIONS START HERE
2. In the post you made on myUMBC, you stated that the Campus police serve as “a reminder of violence to, and as a threat to Black students, as well as other students of color, and LGBTQ+ students, Disabled students,and any student that feel uncomfortable with their presence.” Can you elaborate on that a bit more by explaining the threat that they pose and why?
We’d like to emphasize that we are first and foremost against the police- those on campus and otherwise- as an institution. Their violence is not just characterized by the physical violence that has become increasingly visible in the mainstream consciousness thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement. This physical violence cannot be overstated; police officers have killed over one thousand people in 2019, and as of October 4th, 839 people were killed this year. Victims of police brutality are disproportionately Black and Hispanic, disabled, and LGBTQ+. UMBC as a school- including our chapter of YDSA- rightfully takes pride in our students who are from these communities. However, directly experiencing physical violence isn’t the only source of harm; the trauma of witnessing systemic injustice- which often affects people of color most severely- is a serious enough threat to the wellbeing of our students.
On top of this, a majority of 18-34 year olds support reducing funding to police and supporting social programs with those funds. This is extremely relevant to college campuses. Now whether these social programs are the absolute answer is another question altogether, but they’re an important first step.
https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CAT/Shared%20Documents/USA/INT_CAT_CSS_USA_18546_E.pdf
3. What were some of the goals of STOPP UMBC, and is the organization still active? If so, what are they currently involved in?
STOPP UMBC is no longer active, but I’ll give a copy of the original demands. These included firing UMBC police chief Paul Dillon for the department’s mishandling of the sexual assault case in question which led us to creating the coalition, as well as the suspension pending investigation of two Title IX officers for their failures to pursue justice on several campus cases. It also called for the suspension of the former baseball coach for allowing those students to continue playing on the team. He later left UMBC for reasons I believe unrelated to this case. There were a series of other demands regarding more suspensions and several suggestions about what the university can do to fundamentally change the way it approaches these issues. Some of the suggestions were taken. But not all, including the suspensions or firings.
4. If UMBC campus police were defunded, what are some of the alternative solutions you would suggest when dealing with crimes, assaults, violence, etc. on-campus?
A large part of why we are calling to defund UMBC’s campus police is because they currently are inadequately handling many of the issues the school faces, including sexual assault, white supremacist violence, and other hate crimes.
Now if there were simply defunding, even to the point of abolition of campus police, with no alternative on campus, then the slack could simply be picked up by the county police who handle 50% of on campus calls anyways.
However, we offer a different solution: recognize that crime occurs as a systemic phenomenon, and address it by expanding existing counseling services, as well as potentially reinvesting in the local community, so as to reduce the potential needs of those that allow for property crime. We’re currently drafting more concrete policy proposals, but this is the general direction that we believe UMBC, as well as the local government, can take.
5. To broaden the topic, in the comment section of your post you stated that “the Police as an institution nationwide are explicitly racist.” Do you also believe that we should defund police as a whole? If so, what are some of the changes or protections you would like to see nation-wide in lieu of a police presence?
Yes. Sam Mitrani puts it excellently in this article:
“There was never a time when the big city police neutrally enforced “the law,” or came anywhere close to that ideal. (For that matter, the law itself has never been neutral.) In the North, they mostly arrested people for the vaguely defined “crimes” of disorderly conduct and vagrancy throughout the nineteenth century. This meant that the police could arrest anyone they saw as a threat to “order.” In the post-bellum South, they enforced white supremacy and largely arrested black people on trumped-up charges in order to feed them into convict labor systems.”
By recognizing that the role of police is fundamentally oppressive, we seek to stop the pattern of reform that consolidates more power to them, and build a world where they are obsolete. Not only should the police be defunded as a whole, but eventually abolished. The 8 to Abolition official platform, which DSA and YDSA support, offers 8 practical steps toward achieving this. This process starts with defunding and demilitarizing, with an emphasis on investing in care, and not cops. You can read more about all of the 8 steps at the site mentioned above, as well as some excellent essays written by Colin Kaepernick, Dr. Angela Davis, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and more at this link. We recognize that abolition is controversial and goes against a lot of deeply held assumptions, but education is the first step.
6. Can you tell me a little bit about your experience with white supremacy cases on-campus, how you reached out to campus police, and how the situation was handled? I noticed you mentioned some of your members being assaulted on-campus by white supremacist groups. Could you also tell me a bit more about that (only if you’re comfortable)?
Since 2016, there’s been an increased white supremacist presence showing itself on campus, including Identity Europa, an explicitly Neo-Nazi group. While I contacted campus police about this, I have never received follow-up from them. In 2019, a member of our organization was assaulted by a white nationalist Trump supporting student, when we were protesting Melania Trump. While I will not name names, this student still goes here, and was even involved in running for the UMBC SGA. He has a history of violence, the police were there when it happened, and yet there still hasn’t been justice.
7. You talked a bit about how you believe that campus police doesn’t do much aside from ticket students on-campus. In your eyes, what are some of the main things the campus police should be doing and focusing on in order to be beneficial to the UMBC community (ideally)?
As far as the UMBC police is concerned, they’re a good example of how “good cops” still perform bad jobs. They are well-trained, generally polite, and even have a cute dog. There are certainly worse campus police departments. But they still cover up racial, sexual, and political violence on-campus. Most students are probably more likely to see them in action giving them a ticket at a school they already pay tuition for.
However, I hope I’ve made it clear that we think the best change to the UMBC police is for there to not be a campus police. We strive to put an end to the prison industrial complex, starting with our school.
8. I currently have an interview with Paul Dillon (police chief) set up for today, October 12th, at 4pm. Is there any specific statement you would like to make to the UMBC police department, or Paul Dillon specifically? (If not, that’s totally okay too!)
I apologize for not responding in time to make a statement to him, but we did not have anything to say that hasn’t already been said.
9. Is there anything else you would like to add about this topic overall?
We encourage people to expand their political imagination and stay informed. As a democratic socialist organization, we are fighting for racial, gender, ecological, social, and economic justice. Join us at UMBC YDSA. Contact us on Facebook or Twitter to get involved.
10. Is there anyone else you know of that you believe I should contact on-campus to get a better grasp of this topic?
The Women’s Center on-campus may be able to go in further detail about the mishandling of rape kits at UMBC, specifically with regard to the class-action lawsuit filed that alleged a systemic coverup of sexual assault at UMBC.
Reach out to the UMBC Chapter of Black Lives Matter as well. They’re a separate organization on campus, and while we share many of the same ideals, we may not necessarily be 100% in agreement. The BLM platform on anti-black police brutality is especially useful for context.
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We are deeply disturbed by accusations from Paul Dillon about us "faking" the assault. He should be fired. If he is willing to lie about something like this, what else has he lied about?
