Reimagining the Department of Public Safety
National concern over state violence against Black communities is a concern on our own campus. Black students and co-conspirators have called on USF to examine its own practices and to consider a new way of thinking about safety and wellness. Similarly, on other university campuses, students, staff, and faculty have increased their calls for institutions to acknowledge historical racism and make changes to reimagine campus safety aligned with racial justice goals. For example, Tufts University has increased its use of unarmed personnel for routine service calls and established new, full-time community engagement officers in DPS.
The purpose of the USF reimagining DPS project was to rethink how USF might commit to the safety, care, and concern of its community with attention to those against whom policing has been weaponized to surveil and oppress historically.
During this three-year initiative, members of USF's Department of Public Safety:
- engaged in a 6-week anti-racism training course
- cohosted a series of three public forums on race and policing: Policing and Race, Constructing Danger, and Re-envisioning Policing On and Off Campus
- conducted three listening circles to hear from BIPOC students and alums, police leadership from peer institutions and abolitionists about their experiences with policing and ideas for re-imagining safety on college campuses
- analyzed data from the listening circles to identify themes later presented to student leadership who, based on these themes and their own experiences, recommended changes to DPS
- reviewed these recommendations and drafted a proposal for reimagining DPS
National concern over state violence against Black bodies is a concern on our own campus. Black students and their allies have called on USF to examine its own practices and to consider a new way of thinking about safety and wellness for our community. This initiative proposes to provide race training to officers in the Department of Public Safety and asks them to use this knowledge and learning to help them more empathetically hear the concerns of the community during open forums. This training will further be applied to the reimagining of their unit.
Spring 2023
The project overview, timeline, and concluding proposal information are available on the Re-imagining Public Safety Task Force website.
Spring 2022
April 28, 2022 Forum on Diversity in Campus Policing: This campus forum, featuring USF's Debate Team, addressed why diversity in campus policing matters for both safety and social justice. This forum was funded by the 6 + YOU initiative.
Spring 2021
April Webinar: On April 27, 6 + YOU hosted a conversation among academics whose work focuses on policing and the university.
April Webinar: On April 13, 6 + YOU hosted a conversation between Andrea Ritchie and Dean Spade
February Webinar: On February 23rd, the Jesuit initiative hosted its first public webinar series on race and policing. The webinar was covered in USF News.