TO THE EDITOR:
We’ve all heard about the attempted kidnapping that took place near campus on Nov. 6. Naturally the language of “kidnapping” is shocking in a small town most concerned with underage drinking and scooter theft. But we can’t allow this one-time incident to play into the administration’s ongoing efforts to increase surveillance and police control on campus.
The most recent development in this agenda is DPS’s announcement on Nov. 10 of permanent new “safety initiatives” including more police foot patrols and upgrades to security cameras.
We don’t have a kidnapping problem at UNC.
One freak occurrence should not justify a permanent increase in police presence on an otherwise tranquil campus.
Sexual assault and rape, on the other hand, are happening here in epidemic proportions, and the University has so far done nothing meaningful about it.
We cannot ignore that policing disproportionately targets black folks and other people of color. Foot patrols are already a problem at Wake Forest University, where black students and faculty describe regular stops and unwarranted questioning by campus police.
This newest push to expand surveillance follows the recent placement of cameras, to the tune of $3,600, to guard over the University’s most notorious racist monument. Also this year, DPS was awarded $60,000 for body cameras, which are already recording and surveilling us, unprovoked, as we go around our daily business.
These cameras were not installed to protect students at a site of violence and danger: Rather, the goal behind both the Silent Sam cameras and the body cams is to intimidate those who would stick their necks out for racial justice, be it by showing up to a march or a protest or by curating monuments to white supremacy.
