# Race Descriptions Removed from Crime Alerts



## Blizzard (Feb 26, 2015)

Huh?!  Heard this on the radio today and, no, this isn't an article from the Onion or any other satire site:

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/02/25/u-of-m-drops-racial-descriptions-from-crime-alerts/

And why are they doing this?  According to the article:


			
				CBSMinnesota said:
			
		

> “unintentionally reinforces racist stereotypes of Black men, and other people of color, as criminals and threats.”


 
Our society truly may be doomed.


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## Ooh-Rah (Feb 26, 2015)

This got ugly last year.  Folks were being mugged/assulted on a regular basis on campus and the description was ALWAYS "black".  The black students began to complain because campus police were profiling them (black male = potential suspect).  Minneapolis is a hotbed for race issues as it is, this only made things worse.  I'm not surprised that this happened, and don't know what the answer is, but what messsage are you conveying when you do this?  

I won't apologize for saying this, to the best of my recollection not one of the on-campus assults were reported to be committed by any other race than black.   Not reporting that, does not change anything.  If anything it highlights the problem by saying "so many black men are committing crime that we don't walk to talk about it anymore"


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## AWP (Feb 26, 2015)

As stupid as it may be:
A) It is one university.
B) The description has to be detailed., but unfortunately it doesn't describe the threshold.

The policy is stupid and the article half-assed, but it isn't the end of the world. Whe this becomes a trend or the norm, then we have problems.


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## TLDR20 (Feb 26, 2015)

Things like this do tend to change people's views of things like demographics. There is a report entitled "Miscounting Race: Explaining Whites' Misrepresentation of Racial Group Size" that I read in class that uses data like the above to show how whites often completely overestimate the proportion of our population that is minority, particularly black. Most whites' estimate that America is over 50% black, when in actuality that number is well below 15%. However because of how they are portrayed in media whites consistently overestimate. Changing the way we report crime would probably help change the misperceptions.

Here is another link.

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/journa..._shaped_our_perception_of_race_and_crime.html


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## Blizzard (Feb 26, 2015)

Freefalling said:


> As stupid as it may be:
> A) It is one university.
> B) The description has to be detailed., but unfortunately it doesn't describe the threshold.
> 
> The policy is stupid and the article half-assed, but it isn't the end of the world. Whe this becomes a trend or the norm, then we have problems.


Agree the article was light on details/background.

Here's a couple more that I found with a bit more info:
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/02/25/u-crime-alerts
Key:


			
				MPRNews said:
			
		

> Kaler said suspect descriptions will still be included when they help identify a potentially dangerous suspect, but that when the description is too general, the university will "note that only a limited description of the suspect(s) is available."


 
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/294128071.html
Key:


			
				StarTribune said:
			
		

> University of Minnesota police will stop sending out what they consider vague descriptions of suspects in campus crime alerts after criticism that authorities sometimes release racial descriptions and little other concrete information.
> 
> From now on, the campuswide bulletins triggered by serious crimes such as robbery and aggravated assault will only include the suspect’s description “when there is sufficient detail that would help identify a specific individual or group,” U Vice President Pamela Wheelock said Wednesday in an e-mail to students, faculty and staff...
> 
> ...


 
Note:  According to Wikipedia, the University of Minnesota is the 6th largest student body in the U.S. with more than 50,000 students.  It's an urban location with Minneapolis and St. Paul campus, with the main campus boarding downtown Minneapolis.


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## Blizzard (Feb 26, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> Things like this do tend to change people's views of things like demographics. There is a report entitled "Miscounting Race: Explaining Whites' Misrepresentation of Racial Group Size" that I read in class that uses data like the above to show how whites often completely overestimate the proportion of our population that is minority, particularly black. Most whites' estimate that America is over 50% black, when in actuality that number is well below 15%. However because of how they are portrayed in media whites consistently overestimate. Changing the way we report crime would probably help change the misperceptions.
> 
> Here is another link.
> 
> http://www.theroot.com/blogs/journa..._shaped_our_perception_of_race_and_crime.html


If there is a crime worthy of enough for authorities to put out an alert in my community, I want all available info related to the suspect to be shared, including race - even if it makes some people uncomfortable.   I don't care if the person is black, white, yellow, or purple.  We can't pretend facts don't exist.


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## Ooh-Rah (Feb 26, 2015)

Blizzard - I think the key word you used is, _relevant_.  For example:

-  Black male, about 6' tall, very slender build with short cropped hair and a small scar above left eye.  That would be a description that makes race relevant
-  Black male, wearing a Raiders hat and a blue jacket.  This does not give a quality description; there is no point in adding race here.  As I recall from last year's incidents, this was often an example of  the 'official' description given.


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## Betenhauser (Feb 26, 2015)

Ooh-Rah said:


> Minneapolis is a hotbed for race issues as it is, this only made things worse.



Living in Orlando, we're always hearing about how f'ed up Sanford is in regards to race relations.  However, since when did Minneapolis become such a racial pressure cooker?


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## TLDR20 (Feb 26, 2015)

Saying "the suspect is a black male" does not give an accurate description of a suspect. It narrows it down to 1/6 Americans, but then what does it do on the nightly news? Like you said @Blizzard facts are facts, it is a fact that things like this on the news and on crime alerts reinforce negative stereotypes. It serves to make every black man a potential suspect. They will still say the race if there is enough other information to make the description more detailed than just "tall black male"


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## Wench (Feb 26, 2015)

Ooh-Rah said:


> Blizzard - I think the key word you used is, _relevant_.  For example:
> 
> -  Black male, about 6' tall, very slender build with short cropped hair and a small scar above left eye.  That would be a description that makes race relevant
> -  Black male, wearing a Raiders hat and a blue jacket.  This does not give a quality description; there is no point in adding race here.  As I recall from last year's incidents, this was often an example of  the 'official' description given.



I think it depends greatly on how soon after the incident the alert is going out. I find it highly relevant if it's within a day or so, as witnesses or those who potentially know the suspect may aid in identification.


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## AWP (Feb 26, 2015)

Betenhauser said:


> Living in Orlando, we're always hearing about how f'ed up Sanford is in regards to race relations.  However, since when did Minneapolis become such a racial pressure cooker?


 
I live in Lake Mary and my family tends to go Sanford for everyday shopping like Target, Walmart, Publix, etc. Maybe we don't go into bad neighborhoods, but I've never seen all of this racial hatred and shyte discussed during the Zimmerman trial. I'm not saying bad areas don't exist, but the portrait shown to America during the trial is one of a city primed to riot and I just don't see that. Maybe it is east of 17/92 but we also don't have a reason to that way.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 26, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> Things like this do tend to change people's views of things like demographics. There is a report entitled "Miscounting Race: Explaining Whites' Misrepresentation of Racial Group Size" that I read in class that uses data like the above to show how whites often completely overestimate the proportion of our population that is minority, particularly black.* Most whites' estimate that America is over 50% black*, when in actuality that number is well below 15%. However because of how they are portrayed in media whites consistently overestimate. Changing the way we report crime would probably help change the misperceptions.
> 
> Here is another link.
> 
> http://www.theroot.com/blogs/journa..._shaped_our_perception_of_race_and_crime.html




Are you sure about that?  The abstract said only one study (done 10 years ago) found 14% of white Americans thought that America was 50% black.  That's 14% of one study, done ten years ago, with no indication of the sample size or the parameters of the study, whether the study was peer-reviewed, or if more recent studies contradict that figure.  No doubt people over-estimate size of US minority groups, but there's a big difference between that and "most whites," don't you think?


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## TLDR20 (Feb 26, 2015)

Marauder06 said:


> Are you sure about that?  The abstract said only one study (done 10 years ago) found 14% of white Americans thought that America was 50% black.  That's 14% of one study, done ten years ago, with no indication of the sample size or the parameters of the study, whether the study was peer-reviewed, or if more recent studies contradict that figure.  No doubt people over-estimate size of US minority groups, but there's a big difference between that and "most whites," don't you think?



I will find my study and post the numbers. You have to pay to read it online but I have it in book form.

As an aside, ask someone today what percentage of America is black. I have had 1 person guess within 5 points.


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## policemedic (Feb 26, 2015)

First thought is that this puts the university in violation of the Clery Act's mandate for timely warnings.   A warning is useless if  the description of the bad guy is generic. 

It's true that often witness and victim descriptions of perpetrators fit many people, but the description is what it is.  It doesn't help anyone to further muddle the issue by removing a key identifier.


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## Ranger Psych (Feb 26, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> I will find my study and post the numbers. You have to pay to read it online but I have it in book form.
> 
> As an aside, ask someone today what percentage of America is black. I have had 1 person guess within 5 points.



So I guess my reply of "why should I care" would probably be considered wrong too...  since I really don't give two shits about race. 

I give a shit about people, and if you're worth the oxygen you intake or if you should be required to have houseplants to at least offset your lack of value to the species.


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## x SF med (Feb 26, 2015)

The big issue is that 'victims' do not think to get a good description.  Remember, we as veterans/military/LEO community are to varying degrees Trained observers...  and think to look for identifying marks, features or physical anomalies.  Joe or Jane Schmuckatelli on the street has no clue.


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## Polar Bear (Feb 26, 2015)

This debate is one of the craziest I have ever read. Race is unimportant? Then I guess color of a vehicle, eyes, jacket, are irrelevant. "A dude just mugged me, go find him" 1 in 4, 2 in 4, 3 in 4 is still relevant you just eliminated a part of your suspects. " A white dude with natural blond hair and green eyes just mugged me, go find him" figure out the statistics on that. It is even less than the black population. So race does help.....add red hair into the equation even less of the population.


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## Brill (Feb 26, 2015)

Ranger Psych said:


> So I guess my reply of "why should I care" would probably be considered wrong too...  since I really don't give two shits about race.
> 
> I give a shit about people, and if you're worth the oxygen you intake or if you should be required to have houseplants to at least offset your lack of value to the species.



I said almost that exact thing at work the other day. I believe many gen Z are of the same ilk.


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## Wench (Feb 26, 2015)

x SF med said:


> The big issue is that 'victims' do not think to get a good description.  Remember, we as veterans/military/LEO community are to varying degrees Trained observers...  and think to look for identifying marks, features or physical anomalies.  Joe or Jane Schmuckatelli on the street has no clue.



In my experience, they get descriptions generally right.  Especially race.  I have made countless arrests in the immediate aftermath to a crime based on very specific witness descriptions.  It's being more specific to a person, such as in a line-up, where problems have historically arisen.  Switching to sequential lineups has greatly lessened the chances of a false positive identification.


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## Betenhauser (Feb 26, 2015)

Freefalling said:


> I live in Lake Mary and my family tends to go Sanford for everyday shopping like Target, Walmart, Publix, etc. Maybe we don't go into bad neighborhoods, but I've never seen all of this racial hatred and shyte discussed during the Zimmerman trial. I'm not saying bad areas don't exist, but the portrait shown to America during the trial is one of a city primed to riot and I just don't see that. Maybe it is east of 17/92 but we also don't have a reason to that way.


They do have an awesome German restaurant.  There's the Zimmerman thing, the mob that beat that pregnant lady, but I guess not that much.  I suppose it's more like the town's got a rep.


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## pardus (Feb 27, 2015)

You know what, I find it offensive that they keep saying these attackers were "Male". It's sexist and should be removed from the description,  it unfairly makes 50% of the population look bad.


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## Blizzard (Feb 27, 2015)

pardus said:


> You know what, I find it offensive that they keep saying these attackers were "Male". It's sexist and should be removed from the description,  it unfairly makes 50% of the population look bad.


I was going to make this same point.

...and then there's those fuckers with tattoos...


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## Marauder06 (Feb 27, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> I will find my study and post the numbers. You have to pay to read it online but I have it in book form.
> .


Thanks- that's exactly the reason I didn't read the whole thing.  I was interested in the article, but not interested enough to pay for it ;)


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## 0699 (Feb 27, 2015)

pardus said:


> You know what, I find it offensive that they keep saying these attackers were "Male". It's sexist and should be removed from the description,  it unfairly makes 50% of the population look bad.


 
You miss the point.  It's okay to target or vilify "approved" groups like men, Christians, or veterans, but not unapproved groups like women, muslims, or minorities.  I don't undertand why this is so difficult to understand.


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## TLDR20 (Feb 27, 2015)

Marauder06 said:


> Are you sure about that?  The abstract said only one study (done 10 years ago) found 14% of white Americans thought that America was 50% black.  That's 14% of one study, done ten years ago, with no indication of the sample size or the parameters of the study, whether the study was peer-reviewed, or if more recent studies contradict that figure.  No doubt people over-estimate size of US minority groups, but there's a big difference between that and "most whites," don't you think?



Well this is according to the article, rather than typing it all out, I'm going to take a picture and upload it:


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## Blizzard (Feb 27, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> Well this is according to the article, rather than typing it all out, I'm going to take a picture and upload it:
> View attachment 12675


Great.  Now, I have to see the doc for this kink in my neck.    Besides, there's only like 12 black people in Minnesota, so I'm pretty sure the non-white population is not being dramatically overstated.   To me, that's really a Red Herring arguement to this issue.

As pardus, eluded to earlier, do you think gender should be included in descriptions?  Same argument can be made; why are all nearly all suspects male - doesn't that mischaracterize myself and the rest of the law abiding male population as predators...or does it simply state a fact?


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## TLDR20 (Feb 27, 2015)

Blizzard said:


> Great.  Now, I have to see the doc for this kink in my neck.    Besides, there's only like 12 black people in Minnesota, so I'm pretty sure the non-white population is not being dramatically overstated.   To me, that's really a Red Herring arguement to this issue.
> 
> As pardus, eluded to earlier, do you think gender should be included in descriptions?  Same argument can be made; why are all nearly all suspects male - doesn't that mischaracterize myself and the rest of the law abiding male population as predators...or does it simply state a fact?



To try and portray men, or Christians or any other majority as a minority is such a joke.
These are not police warnings, this goes out to the entire school. Does every member of the school(student, faculty, worker, administrator) need to know that a "black male" robbed someone on the other side of campus? Is viewing every black person as a possible suspect for the rest of the day a valuable tool? I don't think it is. I think there is more damage done by such thinking, and it is very well demonstrated.


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## JBS (Feb 27, 2015)

Blizzard said:


> Our society truly may be doomed.



Correct.


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## JBS (Feb 27, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> Does every member of the school(student, faculty, worker, administrator) need to know that a "black male" robbed someone on the other side of campus?



By itself, I can kinda' see your point.  IF literally the only thing in the report is "black male", then it's truly a worthless report.  But the racial sensitivity aspect of it needs to go, by default unless there is some other reason to suspect that there is systemic racism.  And I'm not saying it doesn't happen in today's world, but systemic racism is WAY more likely to be alleged than it actually is to have occurred in my personal experience in the private and public sector.  The issue here isn't racism, it's crap reporting and either lots of black males committing crimes, or the same mofo's making a killing snatching iPhones and wallets on that campus.


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## TLDR20 (Feb 27, 2015)

JBS said:


> By itself, I can kinda' see your point.  IF literally the only thing in the report is "black male", then it's truly a worthless report.  But the racial sensitivity aspect of it needs to go, by default unless there is some other reason to suspect that there is systemic racism.  And I'm not saying it doesn't happen in today's world, but systemic racism is WAY more likely to be alleged than it actually is to have occurred in my personal experience in the private and public sector.  The issue here isn't racism, it's crap reporting and either lots of black males committing crimes, or the same mofo's making a killing snatching iPhones and wallets on that campus.



So me and my wife get two schools emergency alerts. Most often it is "tall black male" now if I see this twice a week for 4 years how am I going to view the world moving forward? This isn't about racism, it is about tweaking something that has shown to have a negative impact so as to change that impact a little bit.


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## Brill (Feb 27, 2015)

Racism or eyewitness accuracy?

http://apps.americanbar.org/litigat...012-0512-eyewitness-testimony-unreliable.html


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## 0699 (Feb 27, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> To try and portray men, or Christians or any other majority as a minority is such a joke.


 
If it's inappropriate to identify someone by race, why is it appropriate to identify someone by gender?  Aren't most perpetrators men?  Why is it okay to identify men and not blacks?



> These are not police warnings, this goes out to the entire school. Does every member of the school(student, faculty, worker, administrator) need to know that a "black male" robbed someone on the other side of campus? Is viewing every black person as a possible suspect for the rest of the day a valuable tool? I don't think it is. I think there is more damage done by such thinking, and it is very well demonstrated.


 
If you aren't going to describe the perpetrator, so people can be alert and aware, why send out an alert at all?  What purpose does the alert serve if it doesn't describe the perp?


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## TLDR20 (Feb 27, 2015)

0699 said:


> If it's inappropriate to identify someone by race, why is it appropriate to identify someone by gender?  Aren't most perpetrators men?  Why is it okay to identify men and not blacks?
> 
> 
> 
> If you aren't going to describe the perpetrator, so people can be alert and aware, why send out an alert at all?  What purpose does the alert serve if it doesn't describe the perp?



If there is sufficient description then the race will still be described. If the only description is black male in hoodie and mask, that description is not relevant to most of the people who see the description.


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## AWP (Feb 27, 2015)

The problem with removing race isn't just a description. If we apply this "equality" thing to the entire narrative then why have ANY description save for clothing...assuming the clothing isn't religious in nature?

Race or sex or whatever, we can't protect one category over the others. Rather, we shouldn't.


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## pardus (Feb 27, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> To try and portray men, or Christians or any other majority as a minority is such a joke.
> These are not police warnings, this goes out to the entire school. Does every member of the school(student, faculty, worker, administrator) need to know that a "black male" robbed someone on the other side of campus? Is viewing every black person as a possible suspect for the rest of the day a valuable tool? I don't think it is. I think there is more damage done by such thinking, and it is very well demonstrated.







TLDR20 said:


> So me and my wife get two schools emergency alerts. Most often it is "tall black male" now if I see this twice a week for 4 years how am I going to view the world moving forward? This isn't about racism, it is about tweaking something that has shown to have a negative impact so as to change that impact a little bit.



If attacks are coming from "Black Males" then Black males should be described in the description. Jesus dude, this is common sense stuff. Not racial.


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## 0699 (Feb 27, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> If there is sufficient description then the race will still be described. If the only description is black male in hoodie and mask, that description is not relevant to most of the people who see the description.


 
Then why send out an alert at all?


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## Polar Bear (Feb 28, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> To try and portray men, or Christians or any other majority as a minority is such a joke.
> These are not police warnings, this goes out to the entire school. Does every member of the school(student, faculty, worker, administrator) need to know that a "black male" robbed someone on the other side of campus? Is viewing every black person as a possible suspect for the rest of the day a valuable tool? I don't think it is. I think there is more damage done by such thinking, and it is very well demonstrated.


So you would prefer someone got robbed across campus and the description is brown eyes, black hair? That just described 25% of the women I dated. But the subject is a white male with black long hair and a green tee shirt with brown eyes. Yes everyone needs to know. Black, white, or purple not giving a full description is just plan stupid. The police are constantly talking about community policing, you just took that out of the equation. They just made their job harder.


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## AKkeith (Feb 28, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> If the only description is black male in hoodie and mask, that description is not relevant to most of the people who see the description.



I think getting out as much information as possible to the community can only help the community find and apprehend a suspect.


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## Blizzard (Mar 23, 2015)

So, apparently the University of Minnesota isn't going to follow their previously announced policy?:

U of M Student Sexually Assaulted off Campus; Suspect at Large



> The suspect is described as a white man, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a medium building. He was wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants with thee white stripes down the side.


 
Hmmm...will those protestors show up in the office, angered over the release of this ambiguous description?


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## AKkeith (Mar 23, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> If the only description is black male in hoodie and mask, that description is not relevant to most of the people who see the description.





Blizzard said:


> The suspect is described as a white man, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a medium building. He was wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants with thee white stripes down the side.


So they did the same thing. Is it just as rasict and irreverent even though they said white male?


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## Brill (Mar 23, 2015)

AKkeith said:


> So they did the same thing. Is it just as rasict and irreverent even though they said white male?



No, that's affirmative action.


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## TLDR20 (Mar 23, 2015)

AKkeith said:


> So they did the same thing. Is it just as rasict and irreverent even though they said white male?



Yes.

It is wrong according to the standards they set forth.


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## Salt USMC (Mar 23, 2015)

Blizzard said:


> So, apparently the University of Minnesota isn't going to follow their previously announced policy?:
> 
> U of M Student Sexually Assaulted off Campus; Suspect at Large
> 
> ...


To be fair, it looks like the report itself is coming from the Minneapolis Police Department.  The previous article detailing the policy said that the UofM will drop race descriptions from campus crime alerts, which I imagine would cover internal emails/notices to students and staff.  That probably doesn't prevent police from reporting race descriptions to the media, as we are seeing here.

Now, if this report IS coming from the university itself, that's a policy violation and a pretty hypocritical thing to do.  Though I have to wonder why the school would be handling security issues occurring outside of school grounds.

I'm seeing two different stories presented here.  One from the local CBS affiliate says that the MPD are looking into the matter:


> Police are looking for a suspect after a University of Minnesota student was the victim of a sexual assault.
> Authorities said the incident happened at about 12:45 a.m. Monday, off campus, near the intersection of 8th Street SE and 13th Avenue SE. Police said the victim was scraping snow from her car in an apartment parking lot when the suspect approached from behind and sprayed her in the face with an irritant.
> The suspect then forced the female to the ground and sexually assaulted her, police said. The suspect then fled the area through an alley.
> Police responded to the incident and searched the area for the suspect, but could not locate him. The victim was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment.
> ...



HOWEVER, the Star Tribune released a slightly different version of the story: http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/297282491.html


> A 20-year-old University of Minnesota student clearing snow off her car near campus was ambushed from behind and raped in a parking lot late at night, authorities said. The suspect remains at large.
> The attack occurred in a residential lot about 12:45 a.m. Monday near 8th Street and 13th Avenue SE., about two blocks northwest of various university athletic buildings and facilities, according to campus police.
> As the woman was clearing her car of freshly fallen snow, a man sneaked up from behind and sprayed a chemical irritant in her face, university police said in a campus crime alert sent to students, staff members and others.
> The man then forced the woman to the ground and raped her before fleeing down an alley, U police added.
> ...



If that description came from the university cops as indicated by the Star Tribune story, then the school is very likely violating its own policy.


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## AKkeith (Mar 23, 2015)

Violating a sensless policy, that no one will no protest because the color of the suspects skin.


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## Blizzard (Mar 24, 2015)

Deathy McDeath said:


> To be fair, it looks like the report itself is coming from the Minneapolis Police Department.  The previous article detailing the policy said that the UofM will drop race descriptions from campus crime alerts, which I imagine would cover internal emails/notices to students and staff.  That probably doesn't prevent police from reporting race descriptions to the media, as we are seeing here.
> 
> Now, if this report IS coming from the university itself, that's a policy violation and a pretty hypocritical thing to do.  Though I have to wonder why the school would be handling security issues occurring outside of school grounds.
> 
> ...


Yet another source:
http://www.kare11.com/story/news/cr...us-rape-triggers-u-of-m-crime-alert/70329104/


> The University of Minnesota (U of M) has issued a crime alert after a woman was attacked and raped just off campus early Monday...
> 
> ...the suspect is a white male, five feet ten to six feet one inch tall with a medium build. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants with three white stripes on the side.


Don't know who is the real driver of the description above (UMPD or MPD) but does anyone still truly believe that adding race to this description is not important?


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## Centermass (Mar 25, 2015)

"All units, be advised - shots fired - vehicle taken. Be on the lookout for a person and a vehicle - Nothing further"


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## SpitfireV (Mar 25, 2015)




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## TLDR20 (Mar 25, 2015)

Centermass said:


> "All units, be advised - shots fired - vehicle taken. Be on the lookout for a person and a vehicle - Nothing further"



If that was what was happening/what the rule was, then I would be rolling my eyes as well. This rule was to only stop them from using descriptions of race in their campus alert system(mostly an email alert that goes out to all faculty, students, and staff when any crime happens on campus). NOT to prevent police from using descriptions to find perps.


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## Blizzard (Mar 25, 2015)

^ Agree...but the comment was still pretty damn funny.


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## Salt USMC (Mar 25, 2015)

Bad form on UoM's part.  I understand their intent, but this is not the way to do it.  As others have said, removing race from crime alerts that will go out to those most affected is not going to help.


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## Centermass (Mar 25, 2015)

TLDR20 said:


> If that was what was happening/what the rule was, then I would be rolling my eyes as well. This rule was to only stop them from using descriptions of race in their campus alert system(mostly an email alert that goes out to all faculty, students, and staff when any crime happens on campus). NOT to prevent police from using descriptions to find perps.



C'mon dude. The post was meant as sarcasm, but also, an indication of just how stupid things will get if the PC nut jobs continue on.

As for the safety of all on a campus, in my book, that trumps all - including as much of a description, as possible. Hurt your feelings in the process of potentially saving lives or a life? Oh well.


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## Brill (Mar 25, 2015)

Centermass said:


> "All units, be advised - shots fired - vehicle taken. Be on the lookout for a person and a vehicle - Nothing further"



What COLOR was the vehicle???  Better yet, was it Japanese, Korean, German, or perhaps British?  Xenophobia???

Relaying whether it was a motorcycle or auto would be disparaging against four-wheel modes of transportation.

It is "interesting" how race is an issue in MN but MA police can throw out the 4th Amendment when looking for a terrorist suspect.  PC is only correct when it fits a political viewpoint.


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## Ooh-Rah (May 5, 2015)

...and here we go...

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/302589281.html

*Police: University of Minnesota student raped at knife-point by 2 suspects in her dorm room*
The victim said she didn't know her attackers; police have no “detailed descriptions” to release.

Two young men, one armed with a knife, raped a University of Minnesota student in her dorm room, authorities said Tuesday. No arrests have been made.

The assault occurred between 12:45 and 1:30 a.m. Sunday in Sanford Hall, in the 1100 block of University Avenue SE., according to campus police. The victim, a freshman, reported the assault to U police the next day and said she did not know her attackers.

“Unfortunately, we have very limited suspect descriptions at this time,” Busse said, declining to offer any more than the student described her attackers as 18 to 21 years old.

The university said in late February that it was raising the bar on the specificity needed before suspect descriptions would be released to the public. The change in policy followed criticism that authorities sometimes release racial descriptions and little other concrete information about at-large suspects.

<snip>

I swear that I am not trying to be jaded, but with all the pub the U's announcement made about not disclosing race, the phrase : _police have no “detailed descriptions” to release _automatically makes the assumption the suspects are black.  Stupid politically correct bullshit.


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## Scotth (May 5, 2015)

Blizzard said:


> So, apparently the University of Minnesota isn't going to follow their previously announced policy?:
> 
> U of M Student Sexually Assaulted off Campus; Suspect at Large
> 
> ...



If you go to the U's website they didn't violate their policy which says in part,

"Crime Alerts may include the following details:
a) A description of the incident
b) Physical description of the suspect
c) A photo or composite drawing of the suspect, if available
d) Apparent connection to previous incidents, if applicable
e) Any other pertinent information relating to the crime
f) Relevant crime prevention tips"

https://police.umn.edu/crime-alerts

Putting out a description of 5' 10" medium build regardless of race is appropriate.  Just offering a race alone, unless at best your offering a specific race for each incident, isn't necessarily going to be beneficial or appropriate.


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## Ooh-Rah (May 8, 2015)

Hmmm...so I may need to rethink my thoughts around the whole "releasing the race thing" without a good description. Turns out the bitch lied.  I don't use that word lightly, but in this case I think it fits.

 I wish the university would come out and say the same thing, but instead they keep referring to her as a student in crisis. Give me a fucking break.

 I'm guessing that sometime in the next few hours I'll be able to post a statement from the University hailing their decision not to provide a racial description as a success  in not reinforcing stereotypes.    I guess in this case, they would be right.

Note,  I am only assuming she told the police that the men were black, I make that assumption because it seems like every time somebody falsely accuses  someone of attacking them  or trying to abduct them, they always point out black men. 

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/303006671.html

_University of Minnesota police said Thursday that the student who reported being raped by armed strangers in her dorm Sunday was “in crisis” and in need of “professional assistance.”

They no longer believe that she was the victim of an armed sexual assault, as originally reported, according to Vice President Pam Wheelock, who oversees the Police Department._


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## pardus (May 8, 2015)

I hope that she is charged for making a false report. 
It's also meaningless to the subject of this thread IMO.


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