An event called “What’s Going On?” hosted by Solidarity Cabinet and Student Government was scheduled for Monday, Nov. 21, but was cancelled and will be rescheduled.
The event would have featured then-commander James Volpe and chief of public safety Bob Norris, as well as a lawyer and Wheaton professors. It was intended to be a “panel on race, marginalization and policing.” Student body president senior Joshua Fort told The Record that its cancellation was due to a “failure on student leadership’s part” to communicate the details of the event to all the participants involved. He also said that Student Government and Solidarity Cabinet intend to coordinate a future conversation, but as of Wednesday, Dec. 3, have not yet planned a date for it.
A similar event had also been scheduled to be held last year, but was also canceled.
On Saturday, Nov. 21, 11 students met in the Student Activities Office to participate in a research session due to reports of racial profiling, especially of college students. The research day was led by an ad hoc committee of Student Government and the Community Diversity Committee (CDC).
Fort began by informing the students of changes that have been made in the documentation and reporting of racial profiling allegations. The first change concerned the accessibility of the official form that may be filled out concerning reports of racial profiling. Students were informed that many public safety departments at other colleges have this form accessible on their website. The link to form on the Wheaton police site can be found by clicking here.
The second change is that the person reporting racial profiling can now bring a third party to the police station when reporting a racial profiling incident. Lastly, students are now allowed to meet with police on the college campus in order to report racial profiling. Wheaton Police have complied with all three requests. These requests have been made and accepted to reduce barriers to reporting racial profiling.
Students then conducted research concerning the other changes universities have undergone to address racial profiling. Following the completion of student research, the faculty council, which includes professors, college https://thewheatonrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0048.webpistrators and Provost Stanton Jones, will go through the information. Following the review, the council will discuss the research and any recommendations for further policy changes with Wheaton College Public Safety and Wheaton Police Department.
In spite of changes to ease the process of reporting racial profiling, according to Fort, “To my knowledge, no further complaints have been filed.” Fort also acknowledged that there may be other cases of unconfirmed racial profiling complaints in the town of Wheaton.
The Record received an update from the Wheaton Police Department that the internal investigation regarding the allegations of racial profiling reported on Sept. 24 against the Wheaton Police has been completed.
In a separate email, Lieutenant William Murphy from the Wheaton Police informed The Record that sophomore Leonard Blair was “satisfied that he had not been the victim of racial profiling in this instance.”
The Record has submitted an Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information regarding the civilian complaint investigation. Under the law, a government agency usually has five business days to respond. Chief of Police James Volpe has requested to not interview with The Record until after winter break when the police officers said they would submit the letter to the editor, regarding their inquiry.
The News Editorial Team for this article consisted of editor in chief Kirkland An, managing editor Maryam Bighash, associate editor Sarah Boss and assistant news editor Austin Chu. Please email us with any questions you may have at the.record@my.wheaton.edu.