Skimming through the Rampage on Wednesday we found an article that shocked us and made us question why a big riot had not occurred because of it. It talked about an incident that occurred on Tuesday, January 22, 2008. Daniel Ibarra, Michael Vasquez and Carlos Iguirre were stopped by officer Brian Williams because Ibarra did not have his seat belt on properly. Officer Williams said that he smelled marijuana on them and asked them to step out of the vehicle. After searching the car and only finding a closed bottle of vodka in the trunk he charged Ibarra with a seatbelt and open container violation.

Officer Williams asked them to sit on the curb but Vasquez squatted since the ground was wet, figuring that the officer would be fine with it since they were previously on good terms. The officer told Vasquez that he had to sit down and cross his legs. Vasquez explained that he didn’t want to get his clean clothes wet. The officer proceeded to pin Vasquez to the ground and tell him to put his hands behind his back while Vasquez asked witnesses to take pictures. The officer told Vasquez he was going to mace him and then pepper sprayed him three times in the face.

After reading the article we had scheduled an interview with the Dean of Student Services, Robert Fox, first thing in the morning. The information we got was surprising and disappointing. We began by asking for general comments about the case. Through nearly every sentence it was indicated that he was on the side of the police in this instance. He defended their actions, integrity, decisions and right to be on our campus while still, somewhat suspiciously, maintaining that he doesn’t jump to conclusions and looks to both sides to find the truth.

We went to campus police to further investigate the process of complaints and the available information for students as far as police conduct goes. The only information about police conduct was the thick manual itself. As far as complaints go there is a form to fill out for students. It first gets reviewed by a sergeant and once deemed to hold some truth, it is sent to the Dean of Student Services.

We understood his need to present himself as diplomatic and reasonable but we lost all hope in someone who we thought would be sympathetic to the needs of this student after he stated that police discipline is part of the “educational process”. It was clear that he felt the students needed to be policed and that the burden of responsibility when confronted with police conflict lies on the student…not that we need to be logically questioning the situation but that no matter what, we need to follow the cop’s orders or else we need to be taught a lesson that we should do so.

We brought up two issues which seemed to offend him. One was the question of racial profiling on campus which he thought was a serious issue worth investigating if we had numerical evidence to back it up. The second issue was the matter of affluence. He resented the notion (and didn’t hesitate to let us know) that if this incident had occurred on a campus of students whose parents had money, it would’ve been a bigger deal.

Obviously we had treaded on some sensitive ground and we were eager to find our way back to a comfortable conflict-free niche where we could assess his perspective without giving away our intentions. We fumbled with some basic questions about procedure until he asked about our grades. It was a good distraction.

We left his office feeling disempowered. The message we got was that this was a grown-up issue and we needed to mind our own business. We sighed as we walked down the steps, aware that this was only the first phase of a long battle.

A day after we went to the campus police to further investigate the process of complaints and the available information for students. The only information about police conduct was the huge manual itself. As far as complaints go there is a form to fill out for students. It first gets reviewed by a sergeant and once deemed to hold some truth it is sent to the Dean of Students

A brief talk with Joseph Rios, talented editor-in-chief for the Rampage, led us in the direction of Michael Vasquez. The driver, Daniel Ibarra, was also present at our meeting.

He described the incident and it was clear that he was angry about what had happened but also felt unsure about his future. He described his own talk with the Dean of Student Services in which he was made to feel like the automatic “bad guy”. He was concerned about the impact on other students who are also potential targets of police harassment and brutality. “How far can the cops go?” he questioned. He stated that he no longer felt safe on campus.

Since the incident he’s been under the stress of deciding his next move. He was not offered any legal or informal information or guidance about what his options were by the school administration. He wants to see accountability but has been facing obstacles with even the simplest actions. When attempting to make a formal complaint at the district station he was told that if he was “wrong” about the officer’s behavior being harassment, the officer could sue him. After hearing this, he didn’t risk making a complaint. He also wasn’t allowed to look at or purchase the police report on the grounds that he is a “suspect”. Right now, Vasquez is concerned about getting the charges off his record and avoiding future conflict but still wants to see that this doesn’t happen to other students.

It has become apparent that something needs to be done as far as police brutality within our campus goes. This is not the first incident in which a student has been harassed. In fact, upon going to the police station we discovered that there have been multiple complaints, none of which have made their way to Dean Robert Fox’s office.

After losing hope for the administration to do anything to bring justice to students in such cases we have decided to take it into our own hands as students to have an awareness campaign on knowing our rights. If the administration decides to turn the other way and point the finger towards the victim during police brutality or to not hold cops accountable for such conduct then the students will be sure to do so, or at least publicize it to the community and fellow students. It is our responsibility as human beings in a community to stand up for on another with the figures of supposed authority refuse to do so.