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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 2004)
DPS policy would halt vehicle pursuits Some argue the proposed policy is too restrictive and should give DPS officers discretion in pursuits By Jared Paben Senior News Reporter I he Department of Public Safety has released the initial draft of a new pursuit policy that would uncondi tionally prohibit all officers in patrol vehicles from chasing fleeing suspects. The release comes nearly one year after an incident in which a DPS offi cer drove on a sidewalk and collided with a fleeing bicyclist. DPS Interim Director Tom Hicks presented the rough draft of the policy to the Public Safety Advisory Croup on Thursday. The draft, which is the depart ment's first pursuit policy, allows offi cers to pursue suspects only with de partment bicycles. The policy also restricts officers from following any suspect with a vehicle, even if they wit ness a crime, I licks said. "I'll be honest with you: It was drafted by one of our sergeants and I almost feel it was a little bit too strict," I licks told PSAG members. "It gives the officer no leeway when it comes to pursuit in a vehicle. It's outright pro hibitive, period. You're not going to be engaging in any vehicle pursuits. I'm just not sure where I'm really comfortable without any discretion being given to the officer." Hicks said the policy, which is still only a rough draft, also needs clarifi cation on when and how officers may conduct foot pursuits. 1 licks said DPS Sgt. Jeff Breno, a former Portland police officer who engaged in many pursuits in Portland, authored the policy with instructions to make it restrictive. I licks said most police departments are now limiting high-speed pursuits, but he would like to see some flexibility so an offi cer could follow a suspect. But ASIIO l^gal Services Director Ilona Koleszar defended the restrictive language of the draft. She said sus pects tend to drive more dangerously when they see law enforcement fol lowing them. "You weigh this thing of letting a hit-and-run person possibly escape, as opposed to maybe causing fatal in juries to somebody; so it pales," Koleszar said. "I think that's what this (draft) tries to recognize. It does seem very restrictive, but I guess I can see reason why that might be a place to start." Koleszar said the policy might also reflect Breno's understanding that DPS officers receive less vehicle-use training than sworn police officers. DPS officers only receive two days of vehicle-use training, I licks said. DPS has not scheduled public hear ings to garner feedback on the poli cies, but Micks said he would like PSAC. members to get feedback on the policy from their constituents. No stu dent representatives showed up at Thursday's Dead Week meeting, how ever. ASIIO President Adam Petkun said the ASl JO (jcecutive's PSAC representa tive, Campus & Safety Outreach coordi nator Corey I larmon, will not be avail able this summer to attend PSAC meetings, but an ASUO representative will attend the upcoming July meeting. "There'll definitely be someone there," Petkun said. "We're still form ing our summer staff, but regardless of what our summer staff is com posed of, someone will be there, whether it be me or (ASUO Vice Pres ident) Mena (Ravassipour)." V* Contact the campus/federal politics reporter at jaredpaben@dailyemerald.com. 2004 Summer Session Classes Begin June 21 Register for Summer Classes Book Your Summer in Oregon Pick up your free summer catalog today in the Summer Session office, 333 Oregon Hall, at the UO Bookstore, or read it online. You can speed your way toward graduation by taking required courses during summer. Check Out Our Website! http://uosummer.uoregon.edu DIVERSITY continued from page 1A The committee, which advocates for students of color in the college, proposed a list of recommenda tions to the deans in March, includ ing: The creation of a 5-year plan to address the issues; standardized and enforced procedures for han dling complaints; and diversity training for staff and faculty. Education Associate Dean for Academic Programs Linda Forrest said EDAC's recommendations have created "powerful dialogue" throughout the college. The College of Education — which is ranked eighth out of the nation's education graduate schools, according to a 2005 U.S. News and World Report survey — has many diversity initiatives in place, she said. 1’he school was re cently awarded an Interdisciplinary Reading Croup Award from the University Center on Diversity and Community, which will allow a group of the college's faculty mem bers to study methods for develop ing culturally responsive practices. Shadiin Garcia, student support services coordinator for the Sap sik'waia (Teacher) Education Pro gram, said problems have existed in the college for years. But an inci dent during the February Career Be ginnings conference, during which students learn tips for future inter views, "brought it to the forefront," she said. At the conference, students in the college learned the importance of firm handshakes and direct eye contact when meeting with poten tial employers. When a student of color raised concerns that her cul ture does not encourage such inter actions, a comment by Springfield school district's Director of Fluman Resources Roger Jordan was per ceived to be culturally insensitive. Jordan said he had explained what he calls "the blemish effect," which is something that might dis "The community kind of joined in to put some pressure on the College of Education to make some changes." Jim Lyda Coordinator, Ethnic Diversity Affairs Committee tract a potential employer during the interviewing process, such as cultural differences. He said the meaning was misconstrued and that he did not intend to propose that the student's culture was a "blemish." "My comments there caused quite a flap at the University," he said. "And that bothers me tremen dously." Since then, Jordan said he has tried to improve his understanding of what it means to be culturally sensitive. But Garcia said Iordan's com ment was offensive. She said that more importantly, faculty members did not have the skills to address the incident at the time or effective ly talk to students about it later. "The professors were ill equipped to deal with it," she said. Garcia and Lyda said they did not feel comfortable listing other instances of cultural insensitivity for fear of retaliation against the students involved. "Because of the numbers (of stu dents of color) and the nature of some of the incidents, it's difficult," Lyda said. "You always have to wor ry about grades or being ostra cized." Forrest said she's aware that fear might exist, but she added that stu dents have many outlets to raise complaints including the Bias Re sponse Team and with herself. "What we're trying to communi cate to them is it's OK to com plain," she said. In April, representatives from lo cal organizations and schools at tended a meeting on campus to ad dress the problems within the college, Lyda said. “The community kind of joined in to put some pressure on the Col lege of Education to make some changes," he said. Committee members have also raised concerns that the College of Education is producing future teachers who lack multicultural skills needed for working in in creasingly diverse local school dis tricts. Forrest said Jefferson Middle School has been reluctant to allow graduates or students of the Univer sity's College of Education to prac tice teaching at the school. "I would say it has to do with wanting greater confidence in the cultural competency," she said. "I think we're working to change that." Eugene 4-1 School District's Hu man Resources Director Wally Bryant said the school's reluctance to bring in student teachers from the college was a protest against the college's multicultural shortcom ings. He added that he feels the quality of job applicants is improv ing, however, which is important because Eugene's demographics are changing. "Cultural competency is one of the things we're looking for in can didates," he said. While he is satis fied with the students coming from the college, Bryant said anything the University can do to improve those skills is appreciated. Forrest said it is important for faculty members within the college to learn to be more supportive and respectful of cultural differences. "We need to model that for stu dents in our classrooms who are going to be teaching in public schools," she said. Contact the higher education/student life/student affairs reporter at chelseaduncan@dailyemerald.com. NEED CASH ? We buy used texts and other good books throughout the year 768 East 1 3th 525 Willamette (541) 345-1651 (541) 343-4717 one block from U of 0 near the Post Office www.smithfamilybookstore.com You're always close to campus. ... -. —» www.dailyemerald.com
