Lily Huynh/The Cougar

On Feb. 12, several student organizations led a protest on campus safety. Among these was the Houston Organization for Political Education who led a chant on defunding the police. 

Some students have expressed confusion about why we would call to defund the police when we want campus safety. 

Calling for more police and surveillance will perpetuate the criminalization of Black students because of its history of policing, the increase in racist rhetoric and increased targeting. 

Defunding UHPD means that the money that is used for the police force — surveillance, patrolling officers, etc. — should be invested into programs that actually service students like Cougar Ride and escort services. 

First, policing in the United States began with slave patrols and has continued to perpetuate segregation, discrimination and anti-blackness. This is a concept that we once knew in 2020 but somehow have forgotten now. 

Just a couple of years ago, hundreds of UH students chanted “Black Lives Matter” and understood that the murder of George Floyd was reflective of the larger culture of policing as a force of perpetuating racism. 

Thousands more posted, protested and shared stories of how police in the United States have unjustly murdered Black people. This is not disconnected from the current campus movement for safety. 

It begs the question, whose safety are you calling for? 

If the police have had a history of targeting Black people, then Black students are not the ones protected by the increase of police presence on campus. 

Second, the University of Houston has a history of anti-blackness, which has been rearing its head with recent calls for “safety”. 

Let’s not forget, UH was founded by a family of segregationists who ensured that the University would not integrate until 8 years after Brown v. Board of Education by remaining a private school until 1964. 

Texas Southern University, Houston’s thriving Black university, was bought by Texas lawmakers for the sole purpose of furthering the “separate but equal” doctrine that would be their reason for denying Black students entry to colleges like UT Austin and UH.

Once the Supreme Court deemed it illegal to deny entry to students for their race, lawmakers cut 40% of TSU’s funding once their plan to keep students segregated failed. 

Through this, UH has contributed to the crime of the Third Ward community through gentrification and systemic impoverishment. 

After the crimes that happened at the beginning of the semester, students are directing their anger toward the majority-Black community around Third Ward. Moreover, students are directing their fear at anyone who is Black and fits the description of previous suspects. 

In the last week since the calls for campus safety were made, I’ve noticed a marked increase in second or third glances I get from white people who see me entering my own residential building behind someone else. 

Recently, a non-Black student asked me to show my UH ID before they let me into Roy G. Cullen so I could attend an event that my organization was hosting. 

Considering that a significant portion of students on campus are Black, I have almost never been questioned about my presence at UH in my almost 4 years here — until now.

I called to Defund UHPD because calls for more surveillance and policing will always lead to anti-black policing, targeting and criminalization. 

UHPD has a budget of $16 million, which goes to operate 3,100 cameras that are monitored 24/7, 57 peace officers and 101 security officers, according to the UH website.

To put this in perspective, the Honors College has a budget of $1.4 million, the library receives $5.9 million and the arts college receives $9.5 million. 

According to the budget, the security cameras are not included as part of the $16 million. 

The vast majority of the budget is allocated towards police officer and administration salaries, so you would imagine that student’s experiences of UHPD would reflect this huge investment into the staff, right?

Evidently, wrong. Students have repeatedly reported apathy, disregard, incompetence and a general lack of hospitality coming from UHPD. 

In my experience, the police officers who picked me up for the escort services were rude and seemed to view the escort as a burden. 

To be honest, it makes sense why police officers are on their phones, because 99% of the time they do not actively perform a service on campus, their main job is to either patrol or stand around. 

The truth is, although UHPD could service the students. They do not. Funneling more money into UHPD will not solve this issue.

Let’s look at the incident that occurred on Feb. 7. For the people calling for 24/7 security guards around the Welcome Center, what exactly would that have done? Added one extra person who is on their phone on the premises? 

Putting aside UHPD’s incompetence, unless police officers stopped every person who ‘looked like they didn’t belong here,’ there would have been no crime prevention, only a slightly faster response time when the victim called the police. 

What would have actually prevented the crime is if Cougar Ride were efficient and able to take students to their cars. 

Even if Cougar Ride didn’t take everyone to their car, if there were regular and efficient shuttles around campus that had a stop at the Welcome Center, a group of students would be going to their cars at the same time, providing a natural buddy system.

If you’re a student who lives on campus, who is the first person or number you would call when your friend is being stalked or when you experience a sexual assault? 

I would bet that your answer was not the security guard that works your building, but rather your student resident assistant, the desk assistant or another easily accessible person that you interact with on a regular basis. 

The student staff is always the first responders in domestic violence situations, on-campus assaults and stalking. 

The desk assistants are the ones that know the faces of people who are not allowed to enter the building, the resident assistants are the ones to guide students out of their dorms in case of a fire and their supervisor is always the first call when things go wrong. 

If you’re a student who commutes, think about the moments when you feel the most unsafe.

When have you ever seen a security guard or UHPD helping students get to their cars or walk through dark areas?

If it was midnight and your car wouldn’t start up and you saw UHPD drive by in their souped-up SUVs, how comfortable would you be to wave them down and get their help?

A girl didn’t even feel comfortable reporting a crime she saw happen in Zone E. At the same time, UHPD has pulled a gun on a Black student and over-polices peaceful protestors.

Who are the real first responders? Who is really providing consistent services to students? Why can’t we fund those who are really doing this work? 

How much does the University spend to run services like Cougar Ride? The services run from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. from Monday to Thursday and reduced hours on Sunday. What if it could run 24/7?

Imagine if we could reallocate a significant portion of UHPD’s $16 Million into Cougar Ride to significantly improve its infrastructure and expand operating times. 

Not only could we have avoided the sexual assault on Feb. 7, but we could provide a safer community on campus for everyone.

Saron Regassa is a public policy senior who can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

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“Defund UHPD: Increased police presence criminalizes black students, funds should focus on community services” was originally posted on The Cougar