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Around 40 members of the Syracuse University community gathered on Wednesday night to discuss their concerns surrounding safety on campus and in surrounding areas. 

On Friday, a group of SU students observed and recorded three people dragging and hitting another person on the grass outside Huntington Hall. The video circulated on Instagram, along with other videos of students’ interactions with officers from the Syracuse Police Department. 

SU’s Student Association decided in their meeting on Monday to hold a town hall with students and faculty, allowing them to openly discuss their questions, concerns and ideas in order to address safety on and around campus. 

SA’s town hall was attended by members of the Office of Student Living, SU’s administration, SA members and SU students, in addition to Department of Public Safety Chief Bobby Maldonado. 

Many students in attendance agreed having Maldonado and members of the administration at the town hall was “huge.” But many wished SPD was in attendance since the department is handling the case as well as the complaints regarding the officers who responded. 

Students expressed frustration over a lack of accountability with SPD, since the department does not communicate directly with students. SA Vice President Darnelle Stinfort later said they will work on holding a future town hall with SPD. 

“We are going to see if we can partner with Syracuse Police to have them come to speak so we can see their side,” Stinfort said. “That would give a lot of clarification on their jurisdiction and just their whole approach to students on campus.” 

Maldonado detailed what officers currently know of the event based on evidence from nearby cameras. 

Maldonado said the cameras showed three young people who DPS believes to be teenagers and “not of college-age yet,” meeting two other people, who appeared to be in their twenties, outside of Varsity Pizza. After what seemed to be an altercation, the three teenagers ran and were chased by the two others and their friends. 

One of the teenagers was separated, slowed down and was eventually jumped by the four others, Maldonado said. The group eventually started hitting him while he was pinned on the ground. SPD was called and then reported to the scene. Maldonado said the incident that occurred is considered a fight at this time, not an assault. All of those involved, including the person on the ground in the video, scattered once the police arrived, Maldonado said. 

Maldonado also said that DPS cannot determine the race of the individual on the ground in the video. He said the person could be white with a darker complexion, Latino or Black. Neither DPS nor SPD could determine the man’s race for certain, Maldonado said. 

Students said there were claims an officer was nearby who witnessed the event and chose to do nothing. Maldonado said that, according to the video footage they have of the event, they could not see any police cars or officers in the area. He did say, however, three or four minutes after the initial event was called in, four cars were in the area responding to the event.  

Some students were especially concerned with their safety, and they questioned Maldonado, asking him specifically about the jurisdictions of DPS and SPD. The students said they cannot be expected to feel safe when DPS will not respond to calls if students are attacked on Marshall Street or other areas outside DPS’ jurisdiction. Maldonado said that even if DPS is not in its jurisdiction, if they see something, they will do something. 

“We are going to intervene — there’s no doubt about that,” Maldonado said. “We will call the Syracuse Police Department, but we will still take action.” 

Rob Hradsky, the vice president of student experience and dean of students, responded to students’ concerns regarding how the people in the video will be reprimanded if they are caught and found to be SU students. 

“(Violence) has absolutely no place here, and we will handle that in a very severe way,” he said.  

Students offered suggestions to DPS about campus safety. Some suggested increased patrolling in off-campus neighborhoods and areas of the city students commonly congregate. Maldonado said increased patrolling already exists on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, not a result of the recent events. 

Others said that policing is not the answer and instead suggested SU create a task force with professionals who specialize in crisis management, mental health and talking down potentially hostile situations. Cerri Banks, the vice president of student success, reminded students that SU is not a “utopia.” 

Banks said the university cannot make any changes to SPD, but she, Hradsky and Maldonado are making note of all of the students’ suggestions and will take them back for review. 

“Sometimes we think ‘Well, the university should be a place where there is no racism’ … and it should be, but evidently, it’s not,” Banks said. “There are challenges. We can work together though to address the challenges, and what is really helpful is the information you provide (and) the suggestions you give.”

Published on October 21, 2021 at 1:16 am

Contact Karoline: kaleonar@syr.edu