WHEREAS, the previous Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was recently appointed as the twentieth President of the University of California; and

WHEREAS, Napolitano announced visits to all 10 UC campuses within in the first month of her appointment to gather information about each university and their constituents; and

WHEREAS, Napolitano has faced strong opposition across the University of California system prior and during her visits to individual UC campuses; and

WHEREAS,on October 28th, 2013 UC Irvine students, faculty, staff and allies, organized to participate in meeting with Napolitano during her visit to their campus; and

WHEREAS, these students were faced with UC Irvine Police Department (UCIPD) employees blocking entrances into the interior structure of Donald Bren Hall and the shutting down of all forms of entrance in the building; and

WHEREAS, in attempts to block students from entering further into the interior of Donald Bren Hall police used excessive force on students; and

WHEREAS, these actions included and were not limited to rough pushing, pulling, and grabbing of students shoulders, arms, and hands and even hitting; and

WHEREAS, UCIPD members without consent touched the upper areas of female student organizers chest at the front of the crowd to advance them out of the interior doorway; and [1]

WHEREAS, unwanted touching and leering is a recognized form of sexual harassment in the UC policy on sexual harassment; and [2]

WHEREAS, these student organizers did not desire to be touched in those areas and was touched without consent; and

WHEREAS, UC Irvine by policy are allowed to use force under reasonable circumstances if needed; and [3]

WHEREAS, UCIPD used unreasonable amounts of excessive force than required to prevent student organizers from entering the building and doorway; and

WHEREAS, UCIPD has a long history of using excessive force on student protesters; and

WHEREAS,the University of California Police Department has been using an increase amount of excessive force on student protesters in the last decade; and [4]

WHEREAS, many students, staff, faculty and allies were injured, sexually harassed

and outraged by UCIPD use of excessive and grotesquely inappropriate methods on October 28th, 2013 and;

THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED that ASUCI’s Legislative Council condemn the excessive use of force, brutality and sexual harassment on student organized protesters on October 28th, 2013 by UCIPD members; and

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED that ASUCI urges UCIPD to reevaluate UC policies on sexual harassment and UCI policy on force; and

LET IT FINALLY BE RESOLVED that ASUCI demands reform in the University of California systemwide regarding UC Police Departments use of force on student protesters.

Citations

[1] Links to Video Evidence of Harassment and Excessive Force:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=749604115065962&set=vb.132333006263&type=2&theater

[2] UC Policy on Sexual Harassment:

http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/employees/policies_employee_labor_relations/sexual_harassment_policies/sh_policy.pdf

[3] UCI Policy on Force:

http://www.police.uci.edu/safety/docs/UCI_UseOfForcePolicy300.pdf

[4] Articles of Excessive Police Force Within the UC System:

UC DAVIS 2011:

https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/uc-davis-students-reach-1-million-settlement-university-over-pepper-spraying-incident

UC BERKELEY 2009:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/09/california-campus-police-clash-with-protesters-ows_n_1125537.html

UC Santa Cruz 2005:

http://santacruz.indymedia.org/mod/otherpress/display/523