Editorial: Police treatment of students after Final Four loss spotlights racial disparities

This post was updated April 11 at 7:59 p.m.

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Inequities and imbalances in policing remain alive and well in 2021.

Following both UCLA men’s basketball’s Elite Eight win March 30 and Final Four loss Saturday, students swarmed the Westwood streets. From blaring music to defying social distancing measures, the crowds only dispersed when LAPD officers, some even armed with rubber bullet guns, stepped in.

The negative implications of such gatherings are undeniable a year into the pandemic. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 guidelines continue to disallow large outdoor gatherings, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that those vaccinated continue to exercise precautions both in public and when gathering with unvaccinated individuals.

However, the issue at hand runs deeper than a jab of a needle.

The actions of law enforcement, specifically when contrasting last week’s incidents in Westwood with last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, reiterate how people of color and vulnerable communities are grossly mistreated by the police.

The LAPD detained individuals for a peaceful demonstration in cramped cages inside buses for hours in June. Westwood partiers started multiple fires and even climbed aboard a fire truck with little consequence.

Selectively striving for nonviolent policing is a clear and blatantly discriminatory trend. As a student pointed out in a tweet, parties consisting largely of students of color had been repeatedly shut down by law enforcement in the past, while a mostly white crowd of students lit a sofa on fire and simply smiled for the cameras.

Additionally, as another student tweeted, an increased police presence in the area could have had negative effects on other students, especially those experiencing homelessness.

Anecdotes aside, these incidents underscore a greater need for reform both on and off campus. Thirty-two of California’s 33 public university campuses have police forces less diverse than the student bodies they serve, according to a CalMatters review of officer demographics.

However, it must be noted that more representative law enforcement would not necessarily reduce disparities in policing. Studies suggest that nonwhite officers are just as likely to target people of color and that increased diversity may not necessarily lead to increased trust within the local community.

Divestment and inclusive justice initiatives, ideas both the board and members of UCLA faculty have endorsed time and time again, are the only productive course of action moving forward. And, in the meantime, students should remain aware of the consequences their behavior inadvertently has on others.

It’s UCLA’s responsibility to keep its community safe – but it’s been made clear that the police will only extend that courtesy to a select few.