Leaders of several campus religious and cultural groups expressed satisfaction with IU Police Department Capt. Andy Stephenson’s Oct. 12 open letter which vows dedication to positive interactions with all citizens. However, the leaders say there is work yet to be done.
“No matter your race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability or socioeconomic status, the IUPD serves every member of our community fairly, equally, and without bias,” Stephenson said in the letter. “Nothing less will be tolerated.”
In this time of clear tension between police and communities, Stephenson said he wanted to reach out and start a dialogue.
“It wasn’t like I sat and thought about it for weeks,” Stephenson said. “It just came from my heart and how I feel.”
According to Doug Bauder, director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services Office, Stephenson and Chief Laury Flint met with culture center directors last week.
“I’m very much impressed with their efforts to serve all on the campus, but especially communities of color and the LGBTQ+ students,” Bauder said.
Monica Johnson, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, addressed Stephenson’s letter on the NMBCC Facebook page and website.
In her statement, Johnson outlined her collaborative interactions with IUPD, noted the department’s relative preparedness for serving a cross-cultural community, and spoke to the value of continued evaluation and education for full-time officers and those within the IU Police Academy.
However, she said in the post she doesn’t believe the resources exist to know for sure that every member of the force always lives up to department standards.
Avoiding generalization was a theme among other group leaders, as well. Fariha Hossain, co-president of the Muslim Student Association, said IUPD has made efforts to reach out to the campus Muslim community, especially after the attack on a Muslim woman at Sofra Cafe last year.
Aatif Basher, vice president of the MSA, said IUPD also offered support last year when MSA planned an event in which they would pray in Dunn Meadow. Though weather caused a cancellation of the event, IUPD’s support remained.
However, Hossain and Basher agreed that some Muslim students may still hesitate to reach out to IUPD.
“That is something we would like to work on and improve as soon as we can,” Basher said. “It is important for us that both sides have a trusting relationship with one another.
Lillian Casillas, director of La Casa Latino Cultural Center, said she could not speak for the whole of the Latino community, but her personal interactions with IUPD have also been positive.
She said the department has been there for La Casa, with a friendly presence at the freshman retreat, increased patrolling after someone vandalized the center, and advice when staff felt worried about how to protect themselves.
The Police Academy has also played a role in Casillas’s perception of IUPD. Some students come from communities where they experienced violence, she said, and they attend the Police Academy to learn how to best serve those same communities.
“They want to be able to go back and help those who might have been in situations with them,” she said. “I see how it empowers students to then empower others.”
