serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915
www.theaggie.org
volume 131, number 111
thursday, november 15, 2012
Civilian Oversight expert visits campus in response to pepper spray incident UC Davis considers development of board to oversee campus police action, increase transparency By STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN Aggie News Writer
In the aftermath of the Nov. 18 pepper spray incident, UC Davis community members began considering the possibility of developing a civilian oversight committee to oversee campus police action. Currently, plans are underway to begin proposing models that would best fit UC Davis and the greater community. “Oversight in its many forms provides accountability and transparency for police issues that are otherwise inaccessible to the larger community,” said Barbara Attard, private oversight and accountability consultant and former president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). “Community members work to ensure that police practices reflect the values of the community— and that
there is a balance between maintaining public safety and respecting constitutional rights.” There are several basic models of civilian oversight, including the commission model, the investigative model, the auditor/monitor model or a hybrid of the three. “We’ll be looking at identifying concerns with the current police situation, how we can better student-police relations and how we can have a level of transparency and accountability in police actions,” said Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor of campus community relations at UC Davis. “Once we’ve identified those issues and concerns, we’ll look at which model best helps us reach those goals. After that, it’s going about the process of training, orienting the people who are involved ... about the process and making sure there
Pepper spray lawsuit awaits finalization
Compensation has yet to be distributed, class action claim deadline closed
is the proper communication plan to inform the campus community at large. As a whole, civilian oversight would improve student and police relationships.” In an Oct. 16 seminar, Attard addressed the positive and negative aspects of civilian oversight. According to Attard, civilian oversight adds credibility and transparency to police disciplinary systems, works to improve thoroughness and fairness of complaint investigations and helps to sensitize police to community needs. However, civilian oversight can polarize the police and segments of the community, requires public funding and does not completely eliminate police misconduct. For oversight to be successful, a number of necessary features must be met, she said. The board must remain independent from special interest groups and the police must receive adequate fund-
ing and authority and must make findings accessible to the public. UC Davis Police Department Police Chief Matthew Carmichael is optimistic that oversight will be effective. “I feel oversight will have a positive impact on the department but more importantly within the community,” said UC Davis Police Department (UCPD) Police Chief Matthew Carmichael. “Oversight provides the community with another avenue as it relates to the complaint process. I will continue to meet with community representatives to seek input on policy and the needs of our community.” Currently, UC Berkeley is the only university campus in California to employ a civilian oversight agency. STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN can be reached at campus@theaggie. org.
Administration enacts changes in response to Reynoso Report Academic Senate organizes committees to implement report’s suggestions
Brian Nguyen / Aggie
The Reynoso Report and Kroll Report made many recommendations to reform University policies. These recommendations will be implemented by committees organized by the Academic Senate.
By ADAM KHAN and JOANNA JAROSZEWSKA Aggie News Writers
Shazib Haq / Aggie
ACLU lawyer Michael Risher announces the lawsuit settlement terms at a press conference on Sept. 26 on the Quad.
By Sasha CotterelL and Jessica Grillis Aggie News Writers
Nearly one year after the pepper spray incident at UC Davis, those directly affected are now awaiting their settlement payments. The students who were pepper sprayed and arrested filed a lawsuit at the beginning of this year and on Sept. 27 a preliminary agreement was made. “The plaintiffs who filed suit and who were pepper sprayed would be eligible for compensation under the settlement, if it is approved by the court on Jan. 9,” said Michael T. Risher, one of the attorneys who handled the case. He also added that students who were not originally a part of the lawsuit could
Today’s weather Mostly clear High 68 Low 47
have submitted a claim by Nov. 13 if they felt they were also threatened last November. Aside from the compensation of the students involved, part of the settlement maintains that Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi will issue a personal written apology to each party affected. "Since the proposed civil settlement is still under review by the Court, we aren't able to comment on details,” said UC Davis Spokesperson Barry Shiller. “I can say, though, that the university has worked very hard over the past year to demonstrate its resolve to restore trust, institute real reforms and be a national model for tolerance." The other law offices involved could
See SPRAY, page 6 Forecast
Thursday will be a wonderfully beautiful day, then you get the ugly weekend. You’ll need something to keep you dry for the Causeway Classic Saturday and stay healthy enough to go to it as well. Have a nice wet weekend. Tyson Tilmont, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team
After the fire died and the dust slowly began to settle from the Nov. 18 pepper spray incident, students and faculty alike began to take further action — determining what can be done to ensure history is not repeated. A panel headed by Cruz Reynoso, a former California Supreme Court justice, investigated the causes of the event and published their findings in April. Their work, also based on a private investigation by Kroll and Associates, made several recommendations to the UC Davis Administration and UC Davis Police Department (UCDPD) on how to best prevent another event like the pepper spraying. The Reynoso Report argued that the administration and leadership groups of UC Davis should develop a broadly accepted agreement on policies that regulate campus protests and times of civil disobedience that is consistent with free speech. It also stated that a distinction should be made between "non-violent" protests versus "active resistance" and "violent" demonstrations. The much larger and more detailed Kroll Report added several key suggestions. "[Recommendations include] redefining our leadership team and training all members of that team on the incident command system, as well as the California Standardized Emergency management concepts and guiding principles,” the report stated. The report also recommended reorganizing all of the UC system police depart-
ments into one centralized police force. Since April, several committees have been formed to begin analyzing and implementing the recommendations from the Reynoso and Kroll reports. According to Gina Anderson, executive director of the UC Davis Academic Senate, a senate council attempted to examine both reports from a campus perspective. The Academic Senate subsequently drafted an executive council resolution which called for the censure of Chancellor Katehi and the formation of several committees to ensure response to the reports were proper and put into effect. The first committee, called the Administrative Oversight Committee, is charged with forming quarterly updates on the chancellor and all campus progress in response to Reynoso and Kroll. They then report their findings to the Academic Senate, and a written report to the systemwide UC Academic Senate. Currently, several recommendations from the committee have been implemented by the administration, including the formation of a campus community council with representation from ASUCD, students and faculty and the formation of a crisis management team. The committee also suggests that the administration make continued efforts to create a more open dialogue with the community. The other committee, called the Freedom of Expression Committee, will serve for one quarter and conduct a scholarly review of freedom of expression on campus. So far their evaluation is still underway and their findings should be made
See REPORTS, page 6
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Hippo milk is pink.
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Amanda Nguyen