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...
...“For some, knowing they have all the information available about a crime, including the complete suspect description, makes them feel better informed and increases how safe they feel,” Wheelock said in the e-mail. “But others — particularly black men — have shared that suspect descriptions negatively impact their sense of safety.”...
...The campus advocacy group Whose Diversity?, which has been behind several recent high-profile demonstrations at the U, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that it was pleased with the university’s “active engagement with the issue of racialized crime alerts from the administration.”
The group said, however, that the U’s announcement gave the impression that “the administration remains unconvinced that racial profiling has real and tangible consequences.”
A member of the group cited a study by university authorities that found that about a third of campus crime alerts provided “a limited suspect description.” That means race could still be included in about two-thirds of the crime alerts.
