Report: Students Say Mason Police 'Biased, Untrustworthy'

A task force report released Wednesday showed a significant amount of distrust and frustration with the George Mason University Police Department, especially among the school's diverse student population.

Made up of faculty, staff and the chief of GMUPD, the Presidential Task Force on University Police and University Community was created in the spring after the Mason community rallied behind a student arrested in a dispute over a study room.

The group's findings came from over 100 emails and about 37 in-person meetings. Many of the responses described a disconnect between the police force and the community it serves.

Those that responded thought officers "were aloof, quick to assert their formal authority, and overly punitive—a role that was inappropriate for a campus environment," the report said. "Some members of the campus community were sufficiently distrustful of the University Police that they were reluctant to share their experiences publicly."

Justice for Dahir
The department's image suffered a blow in March when students used social media sites to gather support for Abdirashid Dahir, a full-time senior who got into an emotional argument with another student over the use of a Fenwick Library study room. Three hours after the incident, Dahir was arrested in his dorm by GMUPD and charged with abduction.

A few days after his arrest, Mason student Sarah Evans blasted Facebook friends with a call to action to help Dahir. Her note made it to other sites, including Fairfax Underground and CNN's iReport. Students created a Facebook group, planned a protest and signed an online petition.

The charges were dropped.

Mason's Diversity Finds Fault With Officers
Task force members were surprised by how many people came to them dissatisfied with GMUPD. Even those that didn't have actual encounters to report thought officers were untrustworthy, dismissive and biased. 

"The... impression was that this issue was particularly of concern to people of color and people of diverse sexual orientations," the report said.

One person didn't have a personal experience to share, but thought just as poorly of the police as those who did.

“Discovering the unfair handling of Abdi’s situation and more stories of the [Mason] police’s reoccurring patterns of cultural discrimination and poor quality of professionalism makes me feel uneasy about the school’s police force," the account read. "I myself have Filipino lineage, but I was born and raised in the United States… It makes me uneasy being ‘protected’ by people who have been reported to use unfair treatment to people of an ethnicity other than Caucasian.”

That account was backed by others claiming that officers unfairly targeted or suspected students of crimes because of their heritage.

Mason boasts about 130 different nationalities within its 33,000 strong student body. The task force urged GMUPD to commit to regular training that emphasizes dialogue over compliance, as well as community policing, diversity, and multiculturalism. They suggested officers reach out to multicultural organizations on campus, to have more of a community-friendly role rather than focusing only on crime.

Other task force recommendations included:

• Providing services beyond crime control (awareness programs, directions, help with Move-In, walking patrols to help students feel safe at night)
• Working with community to identify crime-related issues and ask for the community's help in solving them
• Making the department accountable to the citizens it serves. A receipt program, for example, would give officer identification and information to those involved in a crime-related incident.
• Creating an oversight committee to gauge public perception and evaluate officers
• Offering an annual survey to the Mason community for feedback

Lessons From the Study Room
Mason hired Tomlinson Strategies LLC, a consulting firm, to review the Dahir incident. Tomlinson concluded that Mason police were right to respond to the incident because the altercation didn't look like it would resolve itself.

The firm found fault, however, with the arrest hours after the incident. 

Though Dahir had two "outbursts" at the library after police arrived, officers didn't decide to arrest him until after a review period, during which they grew concerned that Dahir might try to re-ignite the argument.

The report said the arrest becomes less valid as time passed. And in the three hours before the arrest, Dahir did nothing to suggest he'd be back for a second round.

Tomlinson also expressed concern about the strength of GMUPD's abduction charge against Dahir.

Abduction is a felony and can result in one to 10 years in prison.

The abduction charge seemed to depend on whether Dahir engaged a deadbolt to lock himself inside the study room with the other student, the report said. Dahir said he used the deadbolt to prop the door open. The other student later admitted that this could have been the case.

Tomlinson's study said that police should have taken time to further investigate the incident before arresting Dahir. The officers could have reviewed 911 calls, sought out witnesses and secured a "mirandized statement" from Dahir before going forward with the charges.

Moving Forward
Mason intends to reshape its police force to embrace a new mission statement and focus on its relationship with the community in the next few months.

"Mechanisms will be put into place that give the community members greater opportunities to convey problems and concerns directly to the campus police and then participate in a meaningful way to reach resolution," the university said in a statement. 

Officers will meet regularly with community members and university departments. A new University Advisory Council will meet regularly, review the survey, make sure complaints are investigated and oversee the department's new strategy. 

Other plans:

• Starting in fall 2012, students, staff, faculty and neighbors will have a chance to fill out a survey critiquing GMUPD on an annual basis. 
• Follow-up information will be made available for those involved in a crime-related incident. 
• The department will add a Crime Prevention-Community Involvement Officer with access to the police chief.
• New training will focus on the police-community connection and integrate best practices from other jurisdictions.

Click here to read the full task force report. And here for the official university response.

GMUPD declined to comment on this issue.