To the Editor:
Regarding the opinion column, “DPS: the lesser of two evils” by Vaughn Campbell ’18, published Tuesday, I take exception with the title: DPS is not an evil, lesser, necessary or otherwise. I have consistently found in my experience that DPS, the Department of Public Safety, is professional, respectful and a positive influence on campus.
Addressing a specific claim, Campbell wrote, “Following the incident at the Latinx Ivy League Conference, it is easy to claim that there is bias within DPS. And these claims are well-founded, but bias exists everywhere.” I agree, it is easy to make such a claim. The claim, however, is hardly well-founded. To the best of my knowledge, there is no documented pattern of bias in or by DPS, and there is substantial evidence to the contrary. In the fall of 2009, The Herald reported on data released by DPS and found that DPS stops tracked the student body in terms of race. In a more recent piece in the fall of 2014, The Herald alleged that DPS racially profiles students on the basis of a handful of anecdotes without providing any data to this effect .
In general, not just with respect to DPS, it would be desirable to see fewer broad claims on the pages of this newspaper, especially disparaging ones that lack supporting evidence, much less fly in the face of it.
Mark Fuller ’09, GS
