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Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch released an independent review of the Department of Public Safety on Monday, outlining 23 recommendations for the department as well as protocols for a review board that will oversee complaints against officers. 

The 97-page report is the product of a year-long investigation into how the department interacts with members of the Syracuse University community and, specifically, how officers interacted with students during protests on campus over the past 18 months. 

Chief among the report’s recommendations is the creation of a Community Review Board that will review appeals of complaints against DPS officers and comment on proposed changes to the department’s standard operating procedures and training protocols. 

In an interview with The Daily Orange, Lynch said that she hopes the board, and the report’s other recommendations, will highlight systemic concerns about the department and begin to rebuild trust.   

“We did find that there was a serious erosion of that trust between DPS and the campus community,” Lynch said. “Trust is not broken overnight.” 

Lynch served as attorney general under President Barack Obama and now is a partner at the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison law firm. She spoke to students, DPS officers and university administrators as part of the review.  

Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a statement Monday that he accepts the report’s conclusions and has directed the appropriate campus leaders to implement its recommendations. At times, actions taken by the university, including by DPS, exacerbated fear among members of the SU community, he said. 

“We let you down,” Syverud said. “I am committed to ensuring we do better to rebuild and strengthen trust and mutual respect among our campus community.”

In addition to investigating complaints about how the department handled recent hate incidents and protests, Lynch’s team also conducted interviews and reviewed information about other department controversies, such as its response to a racist Theta Tau fraternity video in April 2018 and a racist assault of students on Ackerman Avenue in February 2019. 

“We know that there is always background,” Lynch said. “We were definitely reviewing the events of last year, but we were not operating in a vacuum.” 

Syverud announced the review in February 2020 amid intense scrutiny of DPS for its interactions with protesters. #NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, occupied the Barnes Center at The Arch for eight days and Crouse-Hinds Hall for 31 days to protest SU’s response to racist incidents on campus and its treatment of students of color. 

During the Crouse-Hinds occupation, DPS officers sealed the building and refused to let food or other supplies inside. The tactics resulted in multiple verbal and physical struggles at the doors to the building, some where students alleged misconduct by officers.

While Lynch’s review couldn’t conclude that students were deprived of food by the administration or that the department’s associate chief, John Sardino, had grabbed his gun holster to intimidate students, it recommends that the university and DPS establish well-publicized policies about campus protests. 

“The core mission of the Department of Public Safety is the safety and security of the campus and security of campus members,” Lynch said. “They can’t fulfill that mission if people don’t trust them. It is as simple as that.” 

The review also recommends that armed officers not be deployed to peaceful student protests in the future and that DPS stop the practice of using plain clothes details when officers are assigned to police or provide security at protests. The review does not support fully disarming the department, one of the demands made by #NotAgainSU. 

DPS should make nearly all of its operating procedures public, with the exception of just a few policies related to active shooter protocols and bomb threats, Lynch’s report recommends. Though the department employs sworn officers who can carry lethal weapons and arrest people, the department does not have to comply with public information laws because of its relationship with the private university. 

“They should be open about this to the campus community,” Lynch said. “DPS ought to have to explain to you why they have a procedure that’s set up a certain way, why they want to make a change, because this is all part of a community working together.” 

Published on February 22, 2021 at 2:06 pm

Contact Michael: [email protected] | @MichaelSessa3