Davila Addresses DPS Problems
Commentary: The systematic weaknesses and misconduct of DPS were long ignored by Jordan Administration. Davila had been working on this for some time and made an official statement yesterday. I applaud him for taking positive actions, so hopefully soon the students will be able to live on campus without the fear of their own security guards. Some of the recommendations made by the law firm who investigated the DPS conduct during HMB raid  have already been implemented.  I know Bob Daniels who provided the workshops for DPS. He is a good educator who knows his stuff. The DPS are now required to take more sign language classes. The new mandatory use of interpreters by DPS dealing with sensitive situations is finally now in policy. The chances of communication breakdown, including misunderstanding, will be minimized with the mandatory use of interpreters.
However, it appears that none of DPS are being held accountable for their previous misconduct, especially at the Brentwood Gate ambush, where students were injured, requiring emergency medical treatment. This lack of accountability concerns me. Perhaps there could be no accountability since Davila wasn’t in office back then. I hope, from now on, the DPS will be held accountable if any shows unacceptable conduct, violating the staff conduct policy. Â
When the law firm’s investigation report on DPS came out, Davila immediately set up a task force on DPS, which is commendable. For too many years Jordan had neglected his responsibilities in mandating a safe environment for the students by failing to ensure the efficacy of DPS. Not Bob Davila. Under Davila’s directive, two town hall meetings were held where Gallaudet stakeholders expressed their concerns about DPS. The task force also held eight meetings. Their findings were then sumarized in this report released to the public yesterday.
The Report of Task Force on DPS: http://ims.gallaudet.edu/pdf/20070427-0002.pdf. It is definitely worth a reading.
The task force urged for more Deaf/HOH hiring for DPS positions and recommended strongly a minimal ASL fluency of 2.5 or 3 or better  as a job requirement. The task force also recognized that the effects of the tragic death of Dupree on Gallaudet Community (http://www.xanga.com/MishkaZena/533511915/carl-dupree-the-ultimate-victim-of-audism.html) were never properly addressed. The profound distrust and fear the majority of Gallaudet students and some non-student stakeholders feel toward DPS on campus to this day alarmed the task force.  Like a task force member said, we cannot have another Carl Dupree incident.Â
Davila’s heart is in the right place as he understands the importance of students’ safety on campus. The diligent efforts of Davila on putting Gallaudet back on the right track are now more obvious than before. Not bad for a guy who came out of retirement to take over Gallaudet presidency slightly over four months ago. Heck, I wish I have some of his energy! 
So what do you think of these new changes? MZ.
Office of the President
COLLEGE HALL
800 FLORIDA AVE. NE
WASHINGTON, DC 20002-3695May 3, 2007
To: Campus Community
From: Robert Davila
Re: DPS Task Force Report
In January, a report was released by the law firm of Covington and Burling related to allegations made against the Department of Public Safety (DPS) during the protest in the Hall Memorial Building and an anonymous bomb threat on October 6, 2006. The report, requested by the Board of Trustees, was conducted by Eric Holder, Ben Razi, and Robert Zink of Covington and Burling, LLP.
Upon the release of the report, the Board asked Paul Kelly, vice president of Administration and Finance, and me to develop a plan to review and implement important recommendations that were made in it. The Board also asked for an update of plans and actions related to the report by its May 2007 meeting.
In February, I convened a task force which was made up of students, faculty, and staff, including members of DPS. This task force was chaired by Edgar “Bernie†Palmer, director of the Office of Students with Disabilities. The task force thoroughly reviewed the report and its recommendations. They solicited community input and developed initial plans for how to implement the recommendations. I am sharing the task force’s report with you and will also be sharing it with the Board of Trustees next week.
Â
I have thoroughly reviewed this report and concur with the task force’s recommendations. Meloyde Batten-Mickens, director of Public Safety, and Paul Kelly have begun examining each of the recommendations and contemplating ways to address them. Several immediate improvements have already been made. For example, DPS hired Bob Daniels, a nationally recognized trainer in visual communication and deaf awareness, to hold workshops for DPS officers. DPS has instituted a requirement that all officers take, complete, and pass a series of courses in American Sign Language, and DPS has increased its use of interpreters for sensitive situations and those that require external law enforcement. Additionally, DPS officers have taken refresher courses in use of force and DPS is working with consultants to improve training in the handling of civil disobedience. I have asked Paul Kelly and members of his staff to keep the community apprised of the progress made towards implementing the ! recommendations in the report.
I commend the work of the task force and DPS for their efforts to date.
e-mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com
Copyright TMÂ MishkaZena 2007
Commentary: The systematic weaknesses and misconduct of DPS were long ignored by Jordan Administration. Davila had been working on this for some time and made an official statement yesterday. I applaud him for taking positive actions, so hopefully soon the students will be able to live on campus without the fear of their own security guards. Some of the recommendations made by the law firm who investigated the DPS conduct during HMB raid  have already been implemented.  I know Bob Daniels who provided the workshops for DPS. He is a good educator who knows his stuff. The DPS are now required to take more sign language classes. The new mandatory use of interpreters by DPS dealing with sensitive situations is finally now in policy. The chances of communication breakdown, including misunderstanding, will be minimized with the mandatory use of interpreters.
However, it appears that none of DPS are being held accountable for their previous misconduct, especially at the Brentwood Gate ambush, where students were injured, requiring emergency medical treatment. This lack of accountability concerns me. Perhaps there could be no accountability since Davila wasn’t in office back then. I hope, from now on, the DPS will be held accountable if any shows unacceptable conduct, violating the staff conduct policy. Â
When the law firm’s investigation report on DPS came out, Davila immediately set up a task force on DPS, which is commendable. For too many years Jordan had neglected his responsibilities in mandating a safe environment for the students by failing to ensure the efficacy of DPS. Not Bob Davila. Under Davila’s directive, two town hall meetings were held where Gallaudet stakeholders expressed their concerns about DPS. The task force also held eight meetings. Their findings were then sumarized in this report released to the public yesterday.
The Report of Task Force on DPS: http://ims.gallaudet.edu/pdf/20070427-0002.pdf. It is definitely worth a reading.
The task force urged for more Deaf/HOH hiring for DPS positions and recommended strongly a minimal ASL fluency of 2.5 or 3 or better  as a job requirement. The task force also recognized that the effects of the tragic death of Dupree on Gallaudet Community (http://www.xanga.com/MishkaZena/533511915/carl-dupree-the-ultimate-victim-of-audism.html) were never properly addressed. The profound distrust and fear the majority of Gallaudet students and some non-student stakeholders feel toward DPS on campus to this day alarmed the task force.  Like a task force member said, we cannot have another Carl Dupree incident.Â
Davila’s heart is in the right place as he understands the importance of students’ safety on campus. The diligent efforts of Davila on putting Gallaudet back on the right track are now more obvious than before. Not bad for a guy who came out of retirement to take over Gallaudet presidency slightly over four months ago. Heck, I wish I have some of his energy!
So what do you think of these new changes? MZ.
Office of the President
COLLEGE HALL
800 FLORIDA AVE. NE
WASHINGTON, DC 20002-3695May 3, 2007
To: Campus Community
From: Robert Davila
Re: DPS Task Force Report
In January, a report was released by the law firm of Covington and Burling related to allegations made against the Department of Public Safety (DPS) during the protest in the Hall Memorial Building and an anonymous bomb threat on October 6, 2006. The report, requested by the Board of Trustees, was conducted by Eric Holder, Ben Razi, and Robert Zink of Covington and Burling, LLP.
Upon the release of the report, the Board asked Paul Kelly, vice president of Administration and Finance, and me to develop a plan to review and implement important recommendations that were made in it. The Board also asked for an update of plans and actions related to the report by its May 2007 meeting.
In February, I convened a task force which was made up of students, faculty, and staff, including members of DPS. This task force was chaired by Edgar “Bernie†Palmer, director of the Office of Students with Disabilities. The task force thoroughly reviewed the report and its recommendations. They solicited community input and developed initial plans for how to implement the recommendations. I am sharing the task force’s report with you and will also be sharing it with the Board of Trustees next week.
Â
I have thoroughly reviewed this report and concur with the task force’s recommendations. Meloyde Batten-Mickens, director of Public Safety, and Paul Kelly have begun examining each of the recommendations and contemplating ways to address them. Several immediate improvements have already been made. For example, DPS hired Bob Daniels, a nationally recognized trainer in visual communication and deaf awareness, to hold workshops for DPS officers. DPS has instituted a requirement that all officers take, complete, and pass a series of courses in American Sign Language, and DPS has increased its use of interpreters for sensitive situations and those that require external law enforcement. Additionally, DPS officers have taken refresher courses in use of force and DPS is working with consultants to improve training in the handling of civil disobedience. I have asked Paul Kelly and members of his staff to keep the community apprised of the progress made towards implementing the ! recommendations in the report.
I commend the work of the task force and DPS for their efforts to date.
e-mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com
Copyright TMÂ MishkaZena 2007
May 4th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Remember when Chris Coorigan was attacked by DPS two months ago? What did Davila do? NOTHING!!
May 4th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Even outside criminals have more rights than the students… finally implementing a policy regarding interpreter??? GEEEZ how long Galluadet has been up and running?
May 4th, 2007 at 11:18 am
It’s a good start. Hopefully it will only get better from now on.
May 4th, 2007 at 11:30 am
You know what this reminds me of? Remember when Iraq and Saddam invaded Kuwait. The world chased them out. When they left, Iraq burned all the Kuwaiti oil fields. This is what Irving Jordan and his cronies did. They left a bunch of oil field fires at Gallaudet for Dr. Bob Davila to put out. Is he running away? Nope, he’s facing all the fires head on and putting them out.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
where are those supporters of IKJ/ JKF? I’d really like to hear them try to defend IKJ/JKF on this one!
For too long, IKj neglected the issues of the so-called” Dept. of Public SAFETY”.
Another proof that the protest was necs. to save Gallaudet.
May 4th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
I am not a supporter of IKJ but JKF. JKF had to follow her boss’ orders. You all would do the same to save your jobs.
I agree that it is a very good idea for DPS to learn ASL. Hey, let me ask you a question if DPS happened to know the sign would Dupree be still alive? I doubt it because he was known as a strongly ASL person and would not slow down for the hearies????
May 4th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Whats good would it be for DPS in 15 or 20 years?
It will repeat the history with problems UNLESS the training takes place *EVERY* summer!
Good Luck!
May 4th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
i never forgot what dps did to my ears. it is permanent damaged. my ears are jewel to me. hope dps will change.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
bluefox, I certainly hope you are not blaming Dupree for his death. The blame lies soley with DPS for using an illegal chokehold. Nobody deserves to be killed by an illegal chokehold, especially when one is already handcuffed.
You asked whether Dupree would be alive if DPS can sign. My answer is yes. If DPS is familiar with ASL, they will understand the bystanders informing them Dupree couldn’t breath.
Hence the proficiency of 2.5, 3, or higher for job requirement.
I guess for some people, money is more important than ensuring that laws and policies are followed so students’ safety and lives wouldn’t be endangered.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
yes, it is a good start, though long overdue.
Support, that’s a good analogy.
Judge, yes, there should be refresher course every year.
May 4th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
If the protesters did not commit illegal acts. They would NEVER have gotten hurt, minorly I might add.
You make it sound like they were sent immediately to intensive care for observation.
DPS was doing the best they new at the time. The protesters created the chaos and now everyone wants to blame the DPS.
Give Me A Break!!!
Nobody likes a whiner!!!
STOP WHINING!!!
May 4th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Gypsy King,
JKF was whining and whining for quite a while too. Nobody likes a whiner like her either.
Now, please watch the cartoons on the TV and quiet down, you little boy while we, adults, are talking here. If you are a good boy, we’ll give you a candy in good time.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
The only chaos created was the choas that Paul Kelly created when he gathered DPS and PPD people together and told them to throw pieces of plumbing at tents and then bulldoze them without checking to see if people were inside the tents.
The only other incident of chaos was also caused by the Jordan administration, including Meloyde Batten-Mickens, on Oct. 6, 2006, when they sent DPS officers into HMB to try to shake up and intimidate the protesters.
May 4th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
It’s about time! Hopefully this mess will clear up soon. I had been always concerned of our safety on Gallaudet Campus til I graduated in 91.
May 4th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
About time - as a parent, I would really be hesitant in sending my child to Gallaudet if I knew DPS didn’t have adequate ASL skills to communicate with my child or her fellow students when certain situations raise that needed DPS’ attention.
I did NOT know how bad it was till during the Gally protest - my friends would say “Oh yeah it’s bad…”
When I asked how come they never said anything about that to me?
“That’s how it is at Gallaudet.”
*gulps*
However, I did see one student – Jesse Thomas (correct me if I have that name wrong) who made a video clip stating that he and others tried to get JKF’s attention about this serious situation and they were repeatedly ignored by her.
May 4th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
At least it’s a start and long overdue. History will repeat if nothing is done to improve the situation. This is a start and it’s good.
Let’s hope this is a way to move beyond the cycle of repetition.
May 5th, 2007 at 8:06 am
Iam, yes, countless students have tried to get Fernandes to work on this issue, even more ever since DPS bungled the football goal incident. DPS were unable to communicate with the students and used CREs to interpret, and things just took a big tun for the worse. They couldn’t handle the situation due to their incompetency in sign language. It was a big fiasco that resulted in many students injured. Fernandes refused to deal with the DPS angle completely. DPS never got any training and because of Fernandes’ dereliction, the students were hurt twice last Oct.
Gypsy, you blamed the victims for being injured by DPS who broke multiple laws, including felonious assault?? DPS were trained to upheld the laws and there was absolutely no reason for them to become violent. The students were peaceful when they were attacked. In fact, they were asleep when they were ambushed. The DPS didn’t use sign language to communicate. If you think what DPS did was ok, that tells me a lot about you. I hope you are not working at DPS or any police agency because that kind of thinking you have is a menace to the society, imo.
FYI, yes, they went to ER immediately for medical treatment.
May 5th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Mishka Zena, I said intensive care, perhaps you should work on your reading comprehension.
Fine, DPS needs some work.
The students at the goalpost incident KNEW they were doing wrong. You don’t have to be an expert in ASL to know you are doing something illegal.
The protesters also KNEW the DPS were at the gate to remove them as well as thier tents. Again, fluency in ASL had nothing to do with the fact that they knew they were to leave and didn’t. Students, I hope, also know right from wrong and were in the wrong at the time.
To DD, I have watched a cartoon unfold in front of me during and even after the protest. Real adults I know don’t behave as some of you self proclaimed messiah’s of the Deaf community.
I am astonished at the bitterness and anger from some of you. If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. Whining is not part of the solution!
May 5th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Unlike you, I won’t minimize the seriousness of the incident that sent students to ERs for immediate medical treatment.
Apparently you weren’t aware that Jordan violated his promise that he would alert the students ahead of time if he sends the DPS. He never did, ambushing the students. The students were literally taken by surprise. Contrary to what you think, the laws do not give the DPS authorization to recklessly injure students on purpose when the students were peaceful. These assaults were reported to the police who understood the severity of the attacks
We expect accountability of hired personnel who violated multiple federal and city laws as well as their own staff conduct policy . Jordan obviously didn’t believe in accountability, hence the reason why Gallaudet is in a serious mess now for Davila to clean up.
It is scary when someone like you minimze the importance of accessible communication. Just like everybody else, students are entitled to that right, as guaranteed by ADA and Section 504 and the university is suppose to be 100% accesssible to the deaf people on campus. I pray that you are not working at Gallaudet because you are doing a good job alarming parents of prospective students when they read your comments and wonder … wow.. this person doesn’t believe in accountability and accessible communication, just like Jordan didn’t….
May 5th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Yes it is a good start.. In my sarcastic moments I think it is way too late… Gallaudet had DPS ever since it was established. I am glad Davila has started working on this issue but why wasn’t some of the people weren’t suspended for hurting the students during the protest.
I say outside criminals have more rights than the students. Got interpreters etc.. while the students are constantly denied of obtaining interpreters and forces to “lip read”…
I remember a friend of mine was raped and they sneered at her and blamed her for the incidents. ASL have NO they were rude to her that was in the 80’s mind you all!!!! It still fresh in my mind!!!!
The murder 2000 and 2001 how it was handled oh please!!!!!!!!
Thank you Davila for starting something you were a student at Gallaudet and worked various position at MSSD and KDES. I am guessing you didn’t “hear” the compliants”
I can tell you stories of what I have seen!!!!!! What I have heard!!!
Gosh… 2007 Gallaudet set up when??
WE AREN’T WHINING.. IF SO IT IS LEGITIMATE!!