34 Faculty Protest Police Tactics

Following weeks of campus-wide protests over the Amadou Diallo shooting verdict, 24 of Harvard's most prominent black faculty members have signed a statement calling for an extended partnership between law enforcement and the nation's minority communities.

Diallo, an unarmed immigrant from West Africa, was shot and killed by four New York City police officers in February 1999. The police officers said they mistook him for a rape suspect and mistook a wallet in his hand for a gun.

In late February, a jury of seven white men, one white woman and four black women acquitted the officers of wrongdoing.

In the professors' statement, entitled "The Diallo Case is Far From Over," the professors do not explicitly condemn the jury's verdict, though they say it leaves wounds unhealed.

The statement mentions "the further pain felt by so many as a result of the recent acquittal of the officers on all counts," but goes no further in its characterization of the legal process.

The brunt of the statement is a call to reform the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and to reduce instances of police impropriety.

The professors' proposals include:

--a U.S. Justice Department investigation into the shooting and further federal scrutiny into the NYPD's standards and practices.

--a call for a nationwide review of the way police patrol predominantly black neighborhoods.

--an appeal for municipal police agencies to work closely with community leaders when devising patrol strategies for high crime areas.

The statement's final recommendation is to use the Diallo incident to address the "problems of racism, conscious and subconscious[.]"

The professors said that they felt the issue of race was of central importance in the incident and should not be avoided as they said they see many trying to do.

"It is not enough for leaders to question the competence of the prosecution, or to call for a Justice Department investigation, or even to empathize with outraged citizens," the statement reads. "This is also a moment for leaders to teach Americans about the continuing power of color in the lives of average people. We share the somber view of many that had Diallo been a European immigrant in a white neighborhood, he would be alive and unharmed today."

The statement praises police efforts to reduce the prevalence of crime in black communities.

In Boston, police precinct captains work closely with clergy and community leaders in high-crime areas to build support for their patrol procedures.

This example, and one in San Diego, "illustrate that partnership between communities and police charged with protecting and serving the members of those communities can achieve the dual goal of preserving and maintaining respect for communities of color and providing protection and policing," the statement reads.

"We should not be forced to make a choice between public safety and personal security," the professors said. "We are entitled to both and insist on both."

In the weeks following the Diallo verdict, University students held a rally in the Yard, a vigil at Memorial Church, dressed in black clothing for solidarity and held numerous discussion sessions.

The Undergraduate Council passed a bill condemning police brutality in the wake of the verdict.

"Our students are very concerned about the Diallo case, and it is important that we let them know that we share their concerns," said co-signer Henry Louis Gates Jr, who is DuBois Professor of the Humanities.

Other signatories include Fletcher University professor Cornel R. West '74, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals Peter J. Gomes and Professor of Law Lani Guinier '71.

The statement was issued on Mar. 24 and was signed by faculty members from seven different Harvard institutions.

President of the Harvard Black Men's Forum (BMF) Shearwood "Woody" McClelland '00 expressed approval of the professors' public announcement, even if it did not directly criticize the verdict. BMF has sponsored a number of the student protests against the verdict.

"I fully support the statement and am glad that some of the Harvard faculty has decided to take a stance on this issue," McClelland said. "I think that the overall issue of police brutality and excessive force is bigger than the verdict, which is why I think the statement focused on that. Even people who supported the verdict should still feel that it is a travesty for an unarmed man to be fired upon 41 times."