The now infamous Powell Library
You know what sucks? Food poisoning.
You know what sucks even more? Food poisoning when you’re far, far away from home.
Perhaps its not just food making me sick lately. I think the “taser incident” on Tuesday night might have contributed to my upset stomach. [Read about the taser incident here and watch the video and be prepared to be seriously disturbed.]
It’s been on my mind a lot, which bugs me because I have a lot of other things to worry about. I tried to articulate my thoughts on the whole thing, but it wasn’t right and I was still left with a lot of questions. The use of excessive force against this student was wrong. Without out a doubt that’s clear to me. But all the questions remain.
Was he racially profiled as an Iranian man? Was this civil disobedience a la Rosa Parks? Should the student have complied to university regulations as outlined in Student Code of Conduct? Are those regulations fair? Was the student responsible for any of what ensued? What level of force would have been acceptable, if any? Where is the line between keeping students safe and infringing on civil liberties?
Thinking critically about the incident and my experience at UCLA, I’ve settled on a few things.
- The repeated shocks with the Taser were excessive. Duh. No doubts about that one.
- UCLA isn’t the safest college campus. Just a few examples I can think of from my several years as a student: just a few weeks ago, I walked into my office and saw a notice posted by the UCPD about a stabbing involving a non-student on the steps of the building; a few years ago I refused to go to the bathroom without a friend accompanying me after learning about a few rapes/attempted rapes in campus bathrooms (the notices were posted by UCPD); four years ago a woman living in the residence halls was raped by the three men who were not UCLA students. Ensuring that only students, staff or faculty occupy spaces such as the library late at night doesn’t seem like a bad idea to me. There’s a reason we have BruinCards: to prove we’re UCLA students.
- I’ve also witnessed examples of UCPD officers abusing their power or racially profiling someone. I’ve seen a Muslim man be cited for jaywalking in a turnaround near a parking lot, and then arrested. It was completely uncalled for. I’ve also seen the UCPD drive their motorcycles dangerously close to us as we marched on the sidewalk with a few spilling over on the street. One of our advisors (a campus admnistrator) was then mistreated when he called them on it. I still remember the officer’s name even though that incident happend 6 years ago. I’m generally wary of police officers. Hell, one of the biggest events of my young life revolved around the Rodney King beating. That video is ingrained in my mind.
- I’ve also felt “served and protected” by UCPD and the Community Service Officers (students employed by the UCPD, run the escort service late at night and do walk-throughs of campus facilities including the dorms) on a few instances.
Last, I was checking out the official Student Code of Conduct (pdf) and saw the following:
Students are members of both society and the academic community with attendant rights and responsibilities. Students are expected to make themselves aware of and comply with the law, University policies, and campus regulations.
…
102.16: [Types of Misconduct] Failure to Comply
Failure to identify oneself to, or comply with directions of, a University official or other public official acting in the performance of his or her duties while on University property or at official University functions, or resisting or obstructing such University or other public officials in the performance of or the attempt to perform their duties.
I wonder what will come of this aside from a nice settlement for the student involved. I do hope the independent investigator appointed by the acting chancellor Norman Abrams will conclude that the use of force was excessive.
P.S. Abrams is also getting a ton of criticism for his handling of this issue (mainly because of this sentence in a press release, “Indeed, this incident arose out of a university policy that is designed to ensure student safety, which requires persons in the library after 11:00 p.m. to be prepared to identify themselves.” I’ve met Abrams on a few occasions, he seems like a nice guy who is very concerned about students. He actually listens to concerns and issues unlike the previous chancellor. He’s got to deal with pressure from the black community and students cocerned over the embarassingly low number of black freshmen students (103 in a class of about 4,800) and this latest scandal. I’d hate to have his job.
What is a UCPD officer? I mean, are they just regular cops, like Sheriff’s who work on the UCLA campus or are they more security guard type cops? Does UCLA have a say in what training they go through?
I doubt racial profiling had anything to do with this incident, I mean, if there was any racial profiling it probably worked in his favor, not against him. It probably was just a case of an asshole cop, something police forces never seems to have a shortage of, trying to show his superiority to those who don’t kiss ass.
What stands out about the video is that the cops insist that he stand up, almost as if they are trying to prove a point. Why not just drag or carry him away? Its not as if they don’t know how to do that, unless they’ve never been to a protest before. From the looks of it, they just wanted a reason to electrocute him, not standing up fit the bill.
HP,
You can find out more about UCPD at their website. They’re a police department for UCLA but are not security guards or “rent-a-cops.” Yup, they did seem like assholes.
Chavo,
Surprisingly from all the rallies I’ve been to at UCLA (a couple a year for about 8 years), the UCPD has been pretty cool with the students. We’ve staged a sit-in before too and not a single student was dragged out or arrested. And there were plenty of young Muslim men there. The next day a few UC Santa Cruz students were dragged out of the Regents meeting. It’s scary to think that non-compliance could result in being electrocuted.
i’ve been reading a lot of commentary about the tasered student on iranian.com, and honestly, i haven’t come to any conclusions if he was racially profiled or not. time might tell with an independent investigation, but i do think the bottom line is that tasering the kid a bunch of times for not leaving the library/not having ID was an absolutely unecessary use of force by any stretch of the imagination.
Wow! I’m beyond myself right now. I can’t believe something like that can still happen now a days. I can almost see the rent a cops saying that the student didn’t follow their instructions and thus they did what they did. It doesn’t mean it’s okay, but i’m sure that’ll be their excuse.
I bet you all the students there could of kicked their sorry asses! (pardon my french)
I was waiting for you take on this unfortunate incident. Usually, you would want your alma mater to be seen a positive light however that’s not the case this time. I hope that UCLA does a major PR turnaround with the news of the African American students and now the tasering of a Muslim student.
your average cop has an authoritarian personality. A police officer is an admirable profession but there are alot of bad apples. They are mini-dictators with badges.
stand up, sit down..ok stand up..not fast enough! taser!
but civil disobediance a la Rosa Parks? that’s ridiculous. This guy was probably acting like a jerk and wouldn’t show his ID. He could have been subdued very easily but the cops were thugs and wanted to play with their tasers.