UCF Police Officers Under Investigation After Professor Claims Racial Profiling
News, Safety, UCF Administration, UCF SGA — By Kevin Wolkenfeld on August 30, 2010 at 12:37 pmA University of Central Florida professor who is a long time “gay activist and mixed-race philosopher and poet” was wrongfully called a crack head, liar, drug user and denied medical care by four white UCF policemen, according to a letter written by the professor’s colleagues in her defense and obtained by KnightNews.com.
NEW: Read Full Report Detailing the Traffic Stop that Sparked Statewide Controversy
NEW: See Citation UCF Police Gave Professor
NEW: Read Letter UCFPD Sent Orlando Police Asking for Investigation
The ACLU and NAACP were contacted, and a grievance has been filed with the University by the professor who felt discriminated against, according to multiple documents Knightnews.com has obtained. UCF confirmed to Knightnews.com it has launched an investigation in the wake of allegations, meanwhile, many faculty members are coming to the professor’s support.
“We believe that as queer academics, we shall not tolerate nor remain silent in the face
of police misconduct that targets people because of non-normative race, gender, sexuality, or
ability,” Claudia Schippert and Shelley Parkan wrote in the August 22 letter to their colleagues in Orlando Queer Academics.
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The professor, Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest, said she was stopped by UCF police on Alafaya Trail near Gemini on Monday, August 9, 2010 at 9 p.m. for a purportedly broken taillight she claimed worked fine.
“My car was unlawfully searched, my body was unlawfully searched, I was subjected to abusive language,” Vest wrote in a letter to colleagues which was obtained by KnightNews.com.
Vest wrote that a police officer told her, “I don’t care who the hell you are!” when she told them she “was a professor and not a crackhead.”
Vest said she was humiliated as the stop played out in front of students driving by, and alleged UCF police refused to let her take her nitrospray medication when she started having chest pains — even after informing them of her heart condition early on.
UCF administrators are taking the allegations seriously, calling the situation “an urgent matter.”
“Upon being informed of the incident, UCF immediately began an investigation that will involve an independent third party, the Orlando Police Department’s Professional Standards Division,” UCF spokesman Grant Heston said. “Other university parties that Dr. Vest has contacted are also moving forward with their respective reviews.”
The university will use whatever resources are needed to proceed with these reviews, Heston said.
The allegations of gender-based discrimination come as UCF students and faculty are ramping up their efforts to fight for new policies to promote a greater inclusiveness of transgender students on campus.
The Student Senate passed a bill earlier this year to add gender identity to the SGA Code of Ethics. UCF Vice President Maribeth Ehasz vetoed the bill, along with a similar Golden Rules Committee proposal. But senators are not giving up. SGA Sen. Cecilia Rivas plans to pass a resolution calling for UCF President John Hitt to add gender identity and expression to the University’s non-discrimnation regulations.
KnightNews.com obtained letters from Dr. Ehasz to the Student Government Association explaining she had to veto the bill changing SGA policy because it conflicted with current University policy. Ehasz did write that she requested a more thorough and comprhensive review to identify any gaps presents on campus and compare UCF policies to other insitutions’.
But Sen. Rivas feels more can be done to give students help sooner.
“Dr. Ehasz says she vetoed the two measures regarding gender identity and expression because she needs to work within the institution, but what she doesn’t understand is that to students she is the institution,” Rivas said. “Students asked her to show leadership on this issue and they feel betrayed.”
A Student Senate committee is scheduled to meet this afternoon to discuss Rivas’ resolution. KnightNews.com will continue following these developing stories and bring you updates when we get them.
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53 Comments
Since when it is unlawful to carry prescriptions for high blood pressure? You’re the imbecile in this situation. And no, not all police are bad. But these dicks who act like supreme beings are ruining it for everyone.
I cannot help but look at this incident as a typical case of someone who’s ego and ideology directly placed them into a circumstance like this. Everyone knows that police officers are trained to behave and carry out their job in a specific way. Furthermore, becoming defiant only instigates them more into being obstinate. They have to because they are required to deal with law-breakers, and while not every radical thinker with a stickered-up car and a bad tail light is necessarily a law-breaker, it is not far off the mark as to why they got pulled over. More simply, they look for every reason to mess with people who are suspicious and/or uncooperative (After all, there are plenty of instances of suspicious activity around the area). That is just the reality of the psychology of law enforcement. It is undoubted that these officers could have handled the situation differently, but I am sure Dr. Vest’s attitude wasn’t necessarily propitious to her situation either.
Remaining silent, humble, and just accepting a simple traffic citation could have avoided the entire scenario. All the better it was to become a martyr and a voice speaking out against all the inequality and injustices about the world. It continues to amaze me that very intelligent people who attain PhDs maintain such strong self-images about themselves and blame the external world for their suffering. I am of the opinion that one who focuses and seeks out such problems of injustice will directly experience it more often in their lives. While this problem is common in so-called oppressed groups, what is not realized is that their opinion is more popular of a trend than they think. Now having gathered real strength and power in their sway of public opinion with their vicious battle against inequality, they have become the new tyrants of contemporary society.
All you people who say the police need to get in trouble are idiots! For what? What did they do. They actually gave her a break. 2 of them. One they didn’t write her two tickets, just one and then they did not arrest for carrying unlawful prescriptions.
If you all hate the police so much, call them and put your name on a list so that if you ever call the police they don’t have to come!!!!
FYI, over a dozen officers at the UCF Police Department have master’s degrees. Nearly all of them have a bachelors degree or associates degree. Some of these officers actually teach classes for UCF and for other colleges. Many are FDLE certified instructors and teach for law enforcement agencies and for police academies. These officers statistically are higher educated than most, if not all, other police agencies in Florida.
Also, police don’t write the law they are simply hired, assigned, and instructed to enforce the law. Many of you may not like being pulled over and many of you may not like receiving a ticket, but officers have the right to pull you over for violations and write tickets. Part of traffic enforcement if enforcing traffic laws and also making sure law enforcement is visible to help deter criminal activity, car burglaries, thefts, alcohol and drug violations, etc. Criminals tend not to go in areas where there is police activity and red/blue lights.
There are rude officers, there are officers who abuse their authority, and there are officers who commit illegal acts, just as there are professors who do the same. No profession or human being is exempt from these things. I call it the 10 percent rule.
It is easy to attack police because they are limited in what they can say by department policy and by the law. It is also easy because most contact people have with police are in situations of traffic violations or other enforcement situations.
I hear and read several complaints about how UCFPD has a “long history of complaints” or “a history of racial profiling”, etc. This is just not true. The UCFPD receives very few complaints and the University receives very few complaints about the Police department. Are there officers who are perceived as rude and in many cases are rude? Sure. These officers and supervisors however, number very few and make it difficult on the others. Most officers try to promote a positive image while still enforcing the law. Sometime, those who are in violation of the law, don’t like to be cited or arrested, but that is what happens when the police do their job.
If you do not want laws or want the police then it is up to you and society to change it. Unfortunately, those who oppose police, even the UCF Police, number very few. This is why the “changes” you want have not happened.
Go ride along with a police officer at UCF, ride along with an officer at Oviedo PD, or a deputy with Orange County Sheriffs Office, etc. You will see what happens and how each agency operates and the quality of their personnel. Don’t make assumptions about something you have limited, knowledge, experience or training. There is a two way street. You can not expect a police officer to know about what each of you do and we ask you don’t assume what we do either. People complain that “the police racially profile” or “police abuse their power”, etc. Talk about stereotyping and being discriminatory! Each time you say these things, it discriminates and defames the character of good hardworking police officers who are ethical, follow the law, and do their job well.
There’s no racial profiling here…the UCF police treat everyone like shit. They screamed at me and threatened to arrest me for improperly crossing the street. They’re a bunch of lame-ass rent-a-cops on a super-sized ego trip.
You people who hate the police are so ignorant and stupid. I can guarantee that you all have had a run in with the police and it didn’t work out in your favor. Just know that the police hate people like you and EVERY SINGLE TIME that they pull one of your civil rights exercising butts over, you’re going to have to roll your window down more than “2 inches” because the cop won’t be able to fit all the tickets they just wrote you through it. I hope you all need the UCF police one day and they don’t help you because one little plublicity stunt like this limits their powers.
Have you read the police report? What a bunch of morons. Dr. Vest is not Hispanic, last time I checked. And since when is it a crime to have heart and blood pressure problems and prescription medication for it? And do these cops always bring in drug dogs after someone signs their citation, just because they might just sniff something out (which by their own admission isn’t there)? Well no, that usually happens to people who “look like they are criminals” – and the dog is either as incompetent as the officers or he is being used in profiling and harassment. These officers seem to be either willfully misrepresenting their offensive behavior – or really really stupid – or both. They should most definitely not be allowed to carry a gun or have any sort of power over anybody else.
I don’t associate “crackhead” with an African-American. I associate “crackhead” with a person who abuses drugs. Perhaps you should reevaluate yourself if you associate “crackhead” with African-Americans.
As for Vest being called a “crackhead” and a “criminal”, well that’s all hearsay from a psychologically unstable individual.
Please note: I choose to use the following racial slurs in order to convey the implications of a ‘name’. A name is not simply a name. Some labels carry power and shame. I only use these words to cause pause and thought about the power and meaning invested in a name and how it may cause suffering. So….
They could have called her coon, savage, picanniny, or jigaboo. They could have called her nigger. Instead, they called her ‘crack head’. ‘Crack head’ is more than a name: it is a derogatory slur that has explicit racial connotations in the context of American culture beginning in the 1980s.
Try closing your eyes and think about the name ‘crack head’. What is the first image that enters your mind? Is that person white, black, brown, yellow, or red? I feel safe to say that in most cases the image is an African American man or woman. To be clear, ‘crack head’ is a derogatory word analogous to coon, savage, picanniny, jigaboo, and nigger: each word verbally represents a negative racial stereotype of African American people. This thought experiment shows how perceptions about crime and substance abuse among black people may not reflect empirical facts as I will illustrate below. On the other hand, perceptions and stereotypes encourage and legitimize negative thoughts and feelings that manifest as words and abusive actions against minority groups and, in this instance, Dr. Vest.
Discrimination, verbal or physical, is never acceptable. It is especially reproachable behavior when exhibited by police officers who have a duty to uphold the law in a just manner. If Dr. Vest’s taillight was broken the officers should have given her a ticket and released her. Dr. Vest’s traffic stop exhibits a common way of profiling people of color. In other words, police officers commonly turn routine traffic stops into a search for drugs that leads to arrest. In this case the drug was Dr. Vest’s prescription heart medication. Police officers denied Dr. Vest her medication though she suffered chest pains during the search; instead she was slandered as a ‘crack head’ and a ‘criminal’. The medication was only returned to her after the paramedics were called to the scene and verified that the prescription was legitimate. This whole process took over an hour and threatened her life. Should a person die before the public takes police misconduct seriously?
I find that some argue that people of color, especially African Americans, are targeted by police because they use drugs more often than others. On the contrary, a National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that alcohol use among black adults is 10.9% under the national average and 12.5% below the national average among African Americans ages 18-25 (http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k10/174/174SubUseBlackAdults.htm). Moreover, illicit drug use among young African Americans between the ages of 18-25 is exactly one percent lower than the national average. Illicit drug use among African American adults is just 1.6% above the national average. In other words, black people are not the majority of addicts as some people may assume. And, if common knowledge like this was questioned more critically, then maybe predominantly white suburban neighborhoods would be the targets of police surveillance rather than low-income African American neighborhoods.
I hope this incident encourages people to question the depth that words can hold: I hope people think about the history that inscribes shallow words with meaningful pain. The name ‘crack head’ means more to those who know what that label means and why. It signifies a drug war that has long punished crack cocaine arrests (and black people) 100:1 over powder cocaine arrests. In other words, a person who is arrested for the possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine is charged with the same criminal felony as the person arrested with 500 grams of powder cocaine. (This law may have changed recently…it has been an ongoing conflict since the 1988 Anti Drug Abuse Act)
Crack cocaine is cheap and accessible to the poor while powder cocaine is much more expensive. The issue of class division is what further divides cocaine laws beyond the racial implications. Not all black people use crack and not all white people use powder cocaine but, poor black people tend to have access to crack while white people who have extra cash can afford powder cocaine. So, those who use powder cocaine (mostly white) get a slap on the wrist (if they get caught in the privacy of their gated community) and prisons are filled with poor black people. Without writing a book here (though I can name some good ones) crime statistics may seem to prove that black people commit crime more frequently and/or use drugs more than other people; however, 100:1 laws, police concentration in poor neighborhoods, mandatory minimum sentencing and three strikes laws that limit judicial authority contribute to a systemic cycle that punishes black people harsher and more frequently. Dr. Vest’s situation could have been another drug arrest but racial profiling failed in this case and backfired.
The police felt empowered enough, in Dr. Vest’s case, to verbally harass her. If this abuse is not taken seriously then (A) there will be a “next time” for someone else and/or it may be worse (something like spousal abuse for example—there are phases that usually escalate from emotional/verbal abuse- physical abuse-and sometimes murder ) (B) people will not step forward when it happens again if this is not handled appropriately. The outcome of this case will set a powerful precedent on campus and in the community: it will either legitimize police misconduct and the misuse of power or it will take action to prevent future misconduct. I believe the later is necessary to reestablish a sense of safety on campus that these officers violated. I hope that authorities who review this matter will uphold Justice and balance the scales of power that these officers tipped in their direction.
my favorite part of the citation is the cop writes as bad as a Kindergartner. nice penmanship
Finally the cops are in trouble, they routinely try as hard as possible to get as many ppl in trouble. They have no right to do the things they do and anybody who has encountered them knows it. The racial profiling is BS. They don’t profile, they pull over whoever they want and try to get them for something. Classic ucf pd
I’m usually very skeptical of racism claims and believe there is often two sides to the story. I don’t buy into all of the liberal BS that is constantly shoved down our throats by the media, BUT I went to UCF from 2001-2005 and it was common knowledge that the UCF cops are absolute Nazi’s who aggressively harrass, abuse, LIE, and routinely violate the rights of paying students and faculty.
When I was a freshman in ’01, my friend dropped me off on the side of the road in Apollo Village on campus around 10pm. We hadn’t had ANYTHING to drink (or any kind of mind-altering substance) and hadn’t even been anywhere near a bar or any establishment that was serving alcohol. A cop came up behind us with lights flashing immediately as my friend pulled over to the side for “stopping in a roadway”, even though my friend had pulled over well onto the shoulder with a turn signal and all (just an excuse to stop a student)
The cop was an absolute prick and immediately accused us of getting wasted, swore the car reeked of alcohol (impossible), gave my friend a sobriety test, swore his eyes were red, said he smelt alcohol on both of our breaths (again, impossible) and I had a bottle of sprite in my hand with just a tiny bit of soda left which he ripped out of my hand and sniffed until he was satisfied that it was in fact sprite.
He finally let us go after he realized there was absolutely nothing he could nail us for, but I have heard a barrage of stories from fellow students over the years that are similar and often worse.
I’m glad UCF po-po is in hot water now. The police are there to protect and serve and enforce the law, not harass the students that pay to go to college.
It’s too bad there’s no video of this. Unlawfully searched? They probably searched her for weapons because she was unruly and did a frisk of her car to make sure she didn’t have anything there either, both of which are legal. That’s what happens when you don’t behave yourself. If you have a problem, take it to court and don’t make things worse on yourself.
Hey mister know it all defending Nikki….
All I know is she always whines and complains and paints everyone on knightnews with the same brush because of their color and gender. How is she doing that any better than what the ucf police did to this professor?
Talk about double standard.
Even after the Future, by her own admission, ignores the major story that has gone national since knightnews broke it, Nikki still attacks.
She is out of control, and no one gives a crap about your wannabe lawschool analysis.
Bottom line: knightnews brought to light the horrible way UCF police are treated, and your own comments brought out that you are such a “non-conformist” you actually are so predictable by the way YOU YOURSELF stereotype good people.
I agree with the others, GROW UP.
Everybody loves to hate the police. Plain and simple. Nobody appreciates the police until they need them.
Also, I think that if the lady would have just taken the ticket, not argued (she could do that in traffic court) and went on her merry way, NONE of this would have happened. I hate to say it, but when someone challenges the police, they most likely will do everything in their power to make your day suck. This self-righteous woman who insists that she exercises her CIVIL RIGHTS blew the whole thing out of proportion, and brought it all UPON HERSELF!!
I hope that all of you reading this will one day respect police officers and stop challenging them every step of the way and acknowledge the fact that they put their life on the line every day to protect people like you.
Yes, she should definitely learn to “grow up” from someone who shits ad hominem reasoning out probably on a daily basis. Let’s analyze, in an ADULT manner, your reasoning for telling her to “grow up.” Try to stay with me through this, I know it may be hard.
Claim #1: “You are a joke.” This is pure ad hominem. “Joke” is undefined, and no evidence is given to support the assertion. Any two year old can say this.
Claim #2: “No one cares whether the letters were to alphabet soup number 1 or alphabet soup #2 but the people in alphabet soup 1 or 2 who know who the hell sent what.” You provide zero evidence to back up your claim (nice attempt an analogy though).
Claim #3: “[Y]ou are so venomous and toxic and claim to be the king of progressive ideology at UCF.” Ad hominem and baseless assertions. You do not define how she is “venomous” or “toxic.” She never claimed to be “king of progressive ideology at UCF” nor do you offer no evidence that she did.
Claim #4: “[You] trash [KnightNews] for no reason after the Future wouldn’t even run it.” Actually, she gave several reasons she was disappointed with KnightNews – did you not read her post? She also stated the reasons why the Future has yet to run it, to which you did not respond to other than to imply that they never will – an implied claim that you yet again offer no evidence to support.
Claim #5: [Your attacks on KnightNews give] credibility to all the people who attack liberals for being a pain in the ass and deserving the treatment.” You fail to state how her attacks on KnightNews actually give credibility to people “who attack liberals for being a pain in the ass.” You seem to imply that this credibility is given because she is making baseless claims. Yet, in all of your argument thus far, you have not offered a single piece of evidence to show that her claims are baseless.
So, based on all of these claims, you then conclude that she needs to “Think about how you come across [and] GROW UP!” Yet, you offered not a single shred of evidence to back up even one of your assertions about her, and in some cases ignored what she said that you’re responding to. Thus, no claim that you made actually supports your conclusion. If anything, your ability to make an argument is equivalent to that of some small children – so perhaps you should taking your own advice.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
I’m majoring in economics, something useful. The reason I don’t like Philosophy is because majoring in it is ridiculous and a waste of time. Enjoy not having a job. And no, Intro to Philosophy wasn’t above my head. I wasn’t going to waste my money taking a course so worthless.
to a concerned mother of a ucf student:
if your child is ‘distraught’ over an incident that has absolutely no bearing on her whatsoever i encourage you to see professional help for her. its whiny sissies like this that will be the downfall of the human race.
and vest has nothing to recover from…baring any video proof of the incident everything that has shown up in the media is pure hearsay from the point of view of vest who, herself, is blatantly racist.
Math
Did you not notice that those percentages did not add up to even 5%? In addition, I was not asking about the crime percentages; I was referring to your “unruly” statistics.
The ucf police do not profile minorities….as a white male I can tell you they treat everyone with contempt.
My daughter has been distraught since this incident occurred. Dr. Vest has been her mentor and her inspiration to further her knowledge of other philosophies since she began UCF. I pray that Dr. Vest will recover, and will be soon able to resume her duties.
HERP DERP DE DERP
To UCF Mom,
I used the FDLE website (www.fdle.state.fl.us) to get the number of total offenses by race.
I used the USA government census website ( ) to find the total number of people by race in the state of Florida.
I then used a TI-83 Plus calculator and the knowledge I acquired in high school math along with college statistics to find out that:
.819% of offenses in 2009 were done by white people
2.417% of offenses in 2009 were done by black people
Sounds to me yet another member of a minority unwilling or unable to behave in a civilized manner and find themselves in the eye of the police then break out the race card to justify their transgression. Im interested in seeing if there is a police video of this incident to see how grossly exaggerated this ‘gay mixed race poet philosophy professor’ made things out to be.
Anyone that actually knows this prof or is familiar with her rantings knows full well how anti-white racist she is. Shes nothing but an attention whore looking for her 15 minutes in the limelight.
math
can you please cite your source for your statistics?
As a UCF student, I have seen profiling done by the police to people of color, the GLBT community and to people based on their political ideology.
I am appalled that a few comments on this site are calling this a publicity stunt. I am further appalled that a few people do not think this is a case of racial profiling. There is no reason to be stopped by the police for an hour and a half for a broken taillight and then to only receive a ticket for that. It is not a wise decision to deny someone their medicine and to verbally harass them.
I for one do not want to live in a society where hired cops are allowed to use the term crack head to describe someone when no illegal drugs of any kind were found in an illegal search.
Lastly for the fact that I am sure people will pull my comment apart, I have never taken a class with Dr. Vest. I would be just ass appalled if she had a doctorate in Physics, Engineering, Education, Law, or Statistics. It is not a matter of her ideological beliefs this is a matter of harassment from the UCFPD. Can we please keep that in mind?
Whoever is “To Chris” and bashed him about his short comment is an idiot (sorry but just read over your comment again). Who cares what he said?! Just chill out and read the article! I didn’t even read the article because these ridiculous comments caught my attention more than the story. Come on guys, be civil! It’s just people’s opinions! No need for an over extended rant about someone’s ignorance and calling him a Nazi or whatever. Let him be ignorant and move on. I swear people are becoming more and more rude everyday.
do you people really have nothing better to do than argue with each other on this. all of you people are pathetic. get a life
I am sincerely appalled, and somewhat amused, by Chris, the person who made such ugly statements about Dr. Vest and to/about Dr. Schippert.
I would like you to inform me when and where you were crowned the king of ignorance. It’s a lovely title, isn’t it? There must be something awfully rewarding about being able to sit back and talk such garbage about people you don’t know and disciplines you have never sought to learn.
What was your major? I am sure it was full of worth, but I am also sure that the major will be worthless to you. I am not thoroughly convinced that your attitude is capable of learning.
Why do you have so much against the Philosophy department, anyways? Was your intro to Philosophy class way over your head? Did you feel stupid and uneducated after being compelled to think for yourself? After all, you do admit to “blindly following authority figures.” You would have been a prime target for the Stanley Milgram Experiment, and you likely would have made a great Nazi. Congratulations on being programmable!
The only person who has acted unruly is you (and perhaps, me, for you have succeeded in getting me a little riled up). You have never met Dr. Vest, you haven’t met the police officers in question, and the only thing that your comments make evident is that you are truly ignorant to everything happening here and in broad circumstances. Your blanket statements about philosophy, philosophy professors, lesbians, and black people/women, are all unwarranted, and “unruly” at best.
No one is making blanket statements about police everywhere. Individual cops are in question, and if you aren’t able to comprehend the fact that not all individual cops are prime moral human beings, then I believe you should probably drop out of school now, or give back your degree. The fact that you are an adult and exist with that knowledge base is truly scary to me, especially considering that you have probably been deemed “educated” in some social circles.
First of all, if this really did play out like the article describes, then that is horrible and I commend the department for the ensuing investigation. That being said, @ the person with the name “ucf police”, you said, “The UCF police for the most part are bad, they are really uneducated and pretty rough/blue collar people”. Seriously? How ignorant are you? Do you have any idea how much good the UCF police actually does? I have witnessed them protecting people first hand. It was pretty amazing. Try educating yourself before spewing your misinformed nonsense. For starters, you have no idea how “educated” these officers are. A lot of them have gone to college, gotten the same education you have (or better), and received law enforcement training. You will be VERY surprised at the kind of people that decide to become a cop very late in life. It sounds like you are bitter about getting pulled over. If you took the time to do a ride along with a police department, or just talk to an officer, you would know a lot more about the computer systems they use. Allow me to inform you. If a cop runs your license plate through the computer, it may come up as a “stolen vehicle” for a number of reasons. It’s up to that officer to investigate why. A stolen vehicle is a very serious and very dangerous situation for an officer to be in. Any officer that didn’t call for back up would be an idiot, and, God forbid, could end up getting killed. But since you, and most of the general public, never take two minutes to educate yourself, you think you’re some huge victim and the whole thing was exaggerated. He didn’t look like an idiot, he did everything by the book. I would guess that in this situation, the officers had no idea, nor cared who this woman was, and were treating her just like anyone else. But hey, people love to hate L.E.Os.
Don’t ya just love “I’m not racist, but…” statements? Especially when followed absolute without a doubt prejudice filth?
Gosh, sure wish there was a page where I could get up to date information about this. Perhaps some sort of FACEBOOK GROUP? Maybe even called
STOP UCF POLICE
I don’t know, just saying.
Its not being racist when you are using statistics to lead you. if you look at history you will see that black people, when dealing with the police act more unruly. The professor also as no reason to complain about the officers not caring what she does, she was trying to get out of the ticket with her position. the officers did their job by not letting her off the hook.
i say lets post what she emailed out to her students. man she is slandering these cops I cannot imagine what else she will make up. remember they could be victims of reverse discrimination because they are white. I bet they didn’t even know who she was or whether she was gay. like that would ever matter anyways.
You are a joke. No one cares whether the letters were to alphabet soup number 1 or alphabet soup #2 but the people in alphabet soup 1 or 2 who know who the hell sent what.
Claudia attacking the news site that did the story in a fair and balanced way, even after you are so venomous and toxic and claim to be the king of progressive ideology at UCF and trash them for no reason after the Future wouldn’t even run it, gives credibility to all the people who attack liberals for being a pain in the ass and deserving the treatment.
Think about how you come across. GROW UP!
As someone who’s filed a complaint against UCFPD for similar things, all I can say I’m not suprised.
Knightnews broke this story and two major local stations followed. Had the Future done it, it would have died and no one would have read it. Nikki seems like you should be thanking them and even though you disagree with some of the comments respect peoples first amendment rights and debate your side.
Knightnews thank you for continuing to break the stories that matter most to students. I wish you existed when I was a student, the Future was a lot different and more respected.
This is an outrage. It is my hope that not only the police involved are punished, but that this brings light to the many atrocities police around here commit regularly; the consistent power trips, racial profiling, and borderline hate crimes are a smudge on the UCF’s record.
It is a shame that KnightNews had to be the first to publish this story. It seems it has drawn the bigots on our campus out of the woodwork and into their comments section.
When I was discussing this story with the Central Florida Future the chief editor had the level head to wait and consult those who were actually affected by this incident and attempt to collect facts instead of writing on rumors.
I am glad Claudia Schippert (the author of the letter that initially circulated around campus) is attempting to clear things up… however I wonder if any of our efforts can keep language of such extreme prejudice out of the discussion surrounding this incident. And yeah, the discussion so far in the comments is truly astonishing and disgusting.
So it goes: if KnightNews doesn’t completely ruin the story, the readership wont fail to bring disgrace to such sensitive issues.
Why do I blindly follow authority figures? Because they earned those positions and our generally good people.
All those majors you listed are worthless with the exception of poly sci
“against plenty of existing evidence”
You mean the letter the other loser faculty in the philosophy department wrote?
Who or what are you protecting by immediately blaming the victim of the police harassment?
Just stating my opinion that the prof. was probably unruly
Do you find it so unbelievable that a person of color might get stopped and harassed by police?
No, but there much more likely to act unruly. Especially a black, lesbian, uppity, professor.
This is a bunch of B.S., she is made because she got pulled over and the U.C.F. Cops did not kiss her butt like she expects everyone to do.
I’m glad the discrimination and hatred perpetrated by the UCF Police is being supported by some of the student body. I hope people don’t read this and assume all UCF students are like this.
The UCF police for the most part are bad, they are really uneducated and pretty rough/blue collar people….I was pulled over by one not too long ago because he “thought” my car was stolen and I showed him my registration and of course my lisence plate matched up. He made himself look like an idiot and he had called backup also, it was a little ridiculous considering my car has a UCF tag in the back and there was no reason for him to pull me over and there was no stolen car reported in the area..he just thought he would just check lol. So I could definitely see this crazy “it” professor being somewhat right haha
I believe that the allegations of “racial profiling” and whatnot are bogus. Everyone has a chip on their shoulder for the police department and when they think there might have been the possiblity they were wronged, their crazy brain (She is a philosophy professor…just saying) embellishes the story. Of course she will call the ACLU and NAACP, that is expected whenever “anybody of color” has a problem with the police.
All in all, I think she is doing this for plublicity reasons also because she doesn’t like the police. My advice to the professor from now on, next time there there is an emergency…call the fire department, I’m sure that they would LOVE to help.
I bet she had an attitude and I wonder if the police had a reason to search her car. I bet she is just trying to make a big political statement and make it a big deal. very typical
Dear Chris:
do you really consider that a sophisticated comment? Wow. What makes you assume the professor was “insubordinate and unruly”? Do you find it so unbelievable that a person of color might get stopped and harassed by police? You may not like philosophy, but how about sociology, history, criminal justice, political science… or do you read the news much–or at all? I would ask that you think about your own sense of disbelief evident in your comment. Where did you learn to so blindly trust that authorities/police are not to be questioned and that they are always(?) right (against plenty of existing evidence)? Who or what are you protecting by immediately blaming the victim of the police harassment? I hope that you will take the opportunity to educate yourself about the world you live in. It might not always be comfortable, but it sure is real.
The prof. was probably being insubordinate and unruly. Philosophy is a joke anyway.
This is absurd! I believe it to be common knowledge that officers believe they are not subject to the laws under which they operate. However, this not only harms the reputation of the UCF Police Department, but abolishes any sense of trust between UCF Police and faculty/student body. If there is an issue on campus, who can trust the UCF Police to be unbiased and give everyone a chance to be heard? This incident ruins the credibility of the UCF Police Department to offer any safety or protection to anyone who steps foot on the campus.
Do you feel safe?
JOIN THE “STOP UCF POLICE” FACEBOOK GROUP FOR UPDATES ON WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THIS!
Claudia,
Thanks for your feedback. I am a student working for a student news site and it is an ongoing learning process for me. I took this job so I could keep improving my skills, at UCF, so I am here to learn as much as I can. I will try and clarify everything. Thanks for pointing it out I take it to heart.
Kevin
Although I appreciate your attention to this matter, you are not helping when you do shoddy reporting. The name of the professor is Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest. The names of two faculty who wrote a letter to “Orlando Queer Academics” in support of Dr. Vest are Claudia Schippert and Shelley Park. The letter from the Philosophy Department (where Dr. Vest is faculty) was signed by a great number of her colleagues, not just Park and Schippert. And its content was different than the O-QUAC email from which you quote. When you quote from one letter/statement, you should not refer to the authors of the other letter – this can create some serious confusion. It really should not be that difficult to accurately copy down names or keep the source and authors straight.
the ucf police do more harm than good…i wouldnt say that about parking services, but i will say that about the police.