To: Louis J. Forster, Chair Anthony A. Anderson, Vice Chair Sarah B. O’Hagan, Vice Chair William E. Conway, Jr., Vice Chair ex officio and the members of the Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees From: Concerned Johns Hopkins Faculty January 13, 2020 Re: Creation of an Armed Johns Hopkins University Police Department We understand that a group of Johns Hopkins students met with members of the Board of Trustees on December 6, 2019 to discuss the Johns Hopkins University Police Department and other related matters. Many faculty at Johns Hopkins have strongly opposed this plan since it was first announced. Like the students, the signatories to this letter continue to think that the creation of a private police department is misconceived. It is also symptomatic of a larger crisis in university governance, the steady whittling away of the power of University stakeholders to participate meaningfully in decision-making fundamental to the future welfare of Johns Hopkins and the city of Baltimore. Here we lay out our objections to the Johns Hopkins University Police Department. We will set aside for another occasion other recent failures in governance.  Private University policing does not enhance community safety. Expert opinion on the topic of “hotspot” and problem-oriented policing has established that although these approaches may result in short-term crime reduction in the targeted areas, they also push crime into adjacent neighborhoods. This would be ethically unacceptable, yet the administration has not properly addressed this fundamental issue. Studies show that there are likely to be large racial disparities in the frequency and outcomes of armed police-citizen encounters, and we are concerned that a Johns Hopkins University Police Department will decrease the safety of African-American residents in our surrounding neighborhoods. The mandate of the Johns Hopkins police will be to protect a private institution, not the City’s residents as a whole. We fear that it will compound the potential for biased policing. The record of excessive force used by other University police is not encouraging. We are deeply dismayed by the fatal shootings and serious injuries of students and local residents at the hands of armed campus police around the country at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Chicago, Yale, and elsewhere, including Morgan State.  Private University policing does not enhance campus safety. University benefactor Michael Bloomberg remarked in January 2019 that he thought it was “ridiculous” that Johns Hopkins did not yet have an armed police force of its own, citing the fears of patients and the parents of students. Yet black faculty, staff, students (and their parents), and workers overwhelmingly oppose the force. Personal experience confirms on a daily basis the data on race and policing: too many of us have been stopped on campus by security and off-duty police, essentially on suspicion of “walking while black.” Student opposition overall also remains intense. Despite the University President’s assurances that we will have a well-trained police force, the prospect of more police and guns on campus makes us feel less safe for good reason. We have said so from the beginning. 1  Private University policing reduces accountability. Accountability is a fundamental pillar of “constitutional” policing and community driven policing: the formation of a JHU Police Department weakens these principles. A university’s police force is by definition less accountable to those it polices than a public police department. The citizens of Baltimore can oust a Mayor who appoints an ineffective or corrupt police Commissioner. But neither the members of the Johns Hopkins community nor our neighbors elect the University President who approves the police plan and hires the head of Security. Multiple police departments make accountability to Baltimoreans more difficult by creating a maze of overlapping jurisdictions, incommensurate organizational structures, and tangled lines of authority. This is especially problematic for the beleaguered residents who will have to live under a dual regime: some are already organizing to forestall the potentially worst effects of simultaneous policing by the BPD and the JHUPD. Multiple jurisdictions impede the uniform implementation of needed police reforms, and require citizens to monitor several departments simultaneously. Policing is a public function and should remain one. It should not be chopped up and ceded to private institutions that make citizens’ control and reform more difficult.  Private University policing reduces transparency. Transparency is integral to accountability and good policing. So far, the University’s record has not inspired confidence. The Homewood Faculty Assembly’s formal petition of inquiry to the President, dated April 8, 2019, concerning several aspects of the police plan and the administration’s handling of the Garland Hall Sit-In, did not receive a satisfactory response. Johns Hopkins officials also conducted at least three outreach meetings this summer and early fall without disclosing them. They did not post notices of these meetings, list the invited neighborhood associations or other attendees, which included two state senators, or publish minutes. The failure to make this information public is not a trivial lapse: according to prevailing civic norms governing the BPD and Baltimore City Council, these meetings should have been treated as public. In our view, the administration has not consistently met the very high bar for transparency needed in police matters.  Private University policing reinforces the image of Hopkins as a “gated community.” Although JHU is an important “anchor” institution for the City, it has not always been a friend to its neighbors. In East Baltimore, local residents who remember the recent history of massive displacement and the failure to deliver renovated low-income housing regard Hopkins with distrust. A new round of public housing demolition and promised redevelopment is reinforcing this wariness. A Johns Hopkins private police force that has the primary aim of patrolling the perimeters of its campuses reinforces the sense that JH Institutions are “gated communities” and agents of displacement. If Johns Hopkins were serious about improving policing for Baltimoreans, it would not create a private police force. It should instead support the current effort under the Consent Decree to implement top-to-bottom reform of the Baltimore Police Department. The consent decree is a moment of possibility, an opportunity against long odds to create a police department accountable to all of us who live and work in Baltimore.  Private University policing generates public controversy. The Johns Hopkins police project has caused considerable public disagreement and will, we predict, continue to do so. The State of Maryland enabling legislation engendered fierce debate, and the JHU lobbying campaign also raised eyebrows when The Baltimore Sun reported that Johns Hopkins more than doubled its lobbying budget between 2018 & 2019. Since then, we hear repeatedly from public officials and 2 neighborhood residents alike, the refrain, “what Hopkins wants, Hopkins gets.” This expression of resentment and anger at the power of the institution is far from the consensus support that Johns Hopkins should want. Finally, the current mayoral campaign is now in full swing, and many of the frontrunners have made police reform and alternatives to policing central to their electoral agendas. One has very recently highlighted the status of private policing as a platform item, which will push others to do so. As the University gets its implementation plan underway, its police force will almost certainly produce repeated irritants to residents and members of the Hopkins community. And if serious police misconduct or injury to a resident should occur, the University leadership will face fierce criticism. If Johns Hopkins wants to cultivate better relations with its neighbors and with the City government, the creation of a private police department is exactly the wrong move. *********** Many experts from Johns Hopkins University, along with experienced and well informed community activists in Baltimore, forcefully argue that Hopkins should concentrate on effective alternatives to arrest and incarceration: on mediation, mental health services, youth-oriented education programs and public health solutions to drug addiction. We agree. Johns Hopkins can do far more to repair its reputation and enhance the safety and wellbeing of our Institutions and the residents of Baltimore by focusing on what it can do best: promote public health and educational strategies for crime reduction. We, the undersigned, urge the Johns Hopkins University & Medical Institutions to abandon its plan for a Johns Hopkins University Police Department. Respectfully, Toby Ditz Academy Professor and Professor Emeritus of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Zackary Berger, MD, PhD Associate Professor School of Medicine and Berman Institute of Bioethics Veena Das Krieger-Eisenhower Professor Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Drew Daniel Associate Professor, Department of English Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Amy Knowlton Professor, Department of Health, Behavior & Society Bloomberg School of Public Health 3 N. D. B. Connolly Herbert Baxter Adams Associate Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Naveeda Khan Associate Professor of Anthropology Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Carsten Prasse Assistant Professor Whiting School of Engineering M. Ali Khan Abram Hutzler Professor of Political Economy Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Derek Schilling Professor and Chair, Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Judah Adashi Peabody Institute Rochelle Tobias Professor of German Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Claude Guillemard Senior Lecturer Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Barbara Morgan, Dr. Department of Economics Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Daniela C. Rodriguez Associate Scientist Bloomberg School of Public Health Deborah Poole Professor of Anthropology Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Vito Thomas Castelgrande, MPH Research Associate, Center for Humanitarian Health & Department of International Health Bloomberg School of Public Health 4 Graham Mooney Associate Professor School of Medicine Ligia Paina, PhD, MHS Bloomberg School of Public Health Wayne Biddle, Professor Writing Seminars, retired Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Meike J. Schleiff Assistant Scientist Department of International Health Bloomberg School of Public Health Tamer el-Leithy Assistant Professor of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences S. Wilson Beckham Assistant Scientist Bloomberg School of Public Health Emily Riehl Associate Professor of Mathematics Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Suzanne Roos Senior Lecturer in French Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Jane Bennett Andrew Mellon Professor of the Humanities, Department of Political Science Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Photini Sinnis Professor Bloomberg School of Public Health Mary P. Ryan John Martin Vincent Professor of History, Emeritus Krieger School of Arts & Sciences April Wuensch, Dr. Krieger School of Arts & Sciences 5 Alexandre White Assistant Professor of Sociology & History of Medicine Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and School of Medicine Douglas Mao Russ Family Professor in the Humanities Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Jared Hickman Associate Professor of English Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Nadia Nurhussein Associate Professor, English and Africana Studies Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Jesse Rosenthal Associate Professor, Department of English Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD Assistant Professor School of Medicine & Bloomberg School of Public Health Anicia Chung Timberlake Assistant Professor of Musicology Peabody Institute David Gutkin Assistant Professor of Musicology Peabody Institute Bécquer Seguín Assistant Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Stephen J. Campbell, Dr. Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Clara Han Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Renee M. Johnson Associate Professor, Department of Mental Health Bloomberg School of Public Health 6 Casey Lurtz Assistant Professor of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Stan Becker Professor, Friend Bloomberg School of Public Health Sabriya Linton Assistant Professor Bloomberg School of Public Health Emmy Smith Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Johannes Thrul Assistant Professor, Department of Mental Health Bloomberg School of Public Health Lorraine T. Dean Assistant Professor of Epidemiology Bloomberg School of Public Health Francois Furstenberg Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Mary E. Fissell, PhD Professor School of Medicine Nino Zchomelidse Associate Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences John W. Jackson, ScD Assistant Professor Bloomberg School of Public Health Sara Berry Professor Emeritus, History & Anthropology Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Beverly J. Silver Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences 7 Christopher Nealon Professor, Department of English Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Lester Spence Professor, Political Science and Africana Studies Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Shane Butler Nancy H. and Robert E. Hall Professor in the Humanities Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Joel Andreas Associate Professor of Political Science Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Todd Shepard Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Lydia H. Pecker, MD Assistant Professor School of Medicine Ronald Walters Professor of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences William E. Connolly Krieger-Eisenhower Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Magda von der Heydt, PhD Department of Sociology Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Lawrence Jackson Bloomberg Distinguished Professor English & History Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Dora Malech Assistant Professor, The Writing Seminars Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Elizabeth Thornberry Assistant Professor of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences 8 William W. Eaton Professor Bloomberg School of Public Health Erica Schoenberger Professor Whiting School of Engineering Daniel Schlozman Joseph and Bertha Bernstein Associate Professor of Political Science Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Alessandro Angelini Assistant Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Vesla M. Weaver Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Political Science and Sociology Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Paola Marrati Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Laurence Ball Professor of Economics Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Leonardo Lisi Associate Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Anand Pandian Professor of Anthropology Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Jennifer L. Culbert Associate Professor of Political Science Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Neil Hertz Professor Emeritus Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Nathaniel Comfort Professor of the History of Medicine School of Medicine 9 Philip Morgan Harry C. Black Professor, Department of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences George W. Rebok Professor Bloomberg School of Public Health Nicholas S. Ialongo Professor Bloomberg School of Public Health AE Brodsky Senior Lecturer Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Ben Zaitchik Associate Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Judith Walkowitz Professor Emeritus of History Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Bentley Allan Assistant Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Katrin Pahl Associate Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Wietse A. Tol Associate Professor, Department of Mental Health Bloomberg School of Public Health Michael Fried J. R. Herbert Boone Professor of the Humanities and the History of Art & Academy Professor in the History of Art Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Robert Leheny Professor of Physics Krieger School of Arts & Sciences David Savitt Professor of Mathematics Krieger School of Arts & Sciences 10 Sarah Woodson Professor of Biophysics Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Eric Rice Assistant Professor School of Education Kristin Cook Gailloud Faculty, French section, German and Romance Languages Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Patti L. Ephraim, MPH Research Associate Bloomberg School of Public Health Bruce C. Anderson Senior Lecturer Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Yair Amir Professor of Computer Science Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Ruth Leys Academy Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Steven Rokita Professor of Chemistry Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Lawrence M. Principe Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Elizabeth Tolbert Professor of Musicology Peabody Institute Joel Tolman Professor Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Tobie Meyer-Fong Professor Krieger School of Arts & Sciences 11