April 20, 2019
Dear President Peter Salovey, Chief of Police Ronnell Higgins, and senior members of the Yale administration:
We, Black Students for Disarmament at Yale, unite to demand that Peter Salovey and the Yale Police Department implement immediate and lasting policies to address the injustice of the April 16th shooting of Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon by officer Terrance Pollock.
Early Tuesday morning, twelve shots were fired by a YPD officer and a Hamden Police officer at two unarmed, Black New Haven residents. The abuse of power by Yale here is evident.
Yale must take responsibility for the authoritarian role it plays in New Haven. Yale must acknowledge its complicity in the violence its private police force commits against New Haveners. Yale must respect the voices of citizens and students alike who have spoken out against police occupation for many years. Yale must uphold its alleged “commitment to justice” by taking concrete action to prevent future acts of police brutality. As students of this university, we refuse to have the injustices of the YPD committed in our name.
We, Black Students for Disarmament at Yale, demand the Yale Police Department be disarmed of all lethal weapons. The power the YPD exercises at present is incongruent with the needs of Yale students and New Haveners. Their role in “foster[ing] a safe learning and working environment” does not necessitate the excessive force YPD has taken upon itself to execute in our name. Furthermore, the threat of YPD violence actively degrades the relationship between Yale students and New Haven residents. In releasing this statement, we aim to bridge this divide by standing in solidarity with New Haven organizers calling rightfully for justice from Yale.
Our demands are as follows.
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Immediately terminate the employment of officer Terrence Pollock and release the body cam footage of the shooting.
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Disarm the Yale Police Department.
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Restrict the Yale Police Department’s patrol area to a reasonable definition of “campus.”
We demand that President Salovey communicate his intent to disarm the Yale Police Department via a public statement by noon on Sunday, April 28th.
Signed,
Black Students for Disarmament at Yale
