External Review of Arrests Made on May 1, 2024

    August 26, 2024

    To Members of the Yale Community,

    Last spring, amid an incredibly challenging time on our campus, the university commissioned an external review of four arrests made during a protest on May 1, 2024. The safety of members of this community is my primary responsibility, and arrests are never made lightly. So, when several colleagues, students, and neighbors expressed concerns over aspects of the arrests that evening, I listened. Trust is essential to sustaining a healthy environment on our campus, and it is core to the job that I do. To that end, I write now to update the community on the findings of that review.

    During the hours-long protest that took place on the evening of May 1, a group of protesters both marched peaceably and, at times, also engaged in unlawful activity, including blocking traffic in city streets, and violated the university’s outdoor gathering policy after being ordered by police to disperse. Four arrests were made that night after the group moved back onto campus. Two students were arrested without incident. Two non-Yale affiliates (individuals who are neither students nor employed by Yale) were also arrested, and these arrests involved physical action by Yale Police Department (YPD) officers. All four people were charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, and one of the non-Yale affiliates was also charged with resisting arrest. Videos of the arrests released on social media raised questions within the community.

    As I announced on May 5, the university opened an inquiry to better understand the events that led to the arrests. We enlisted Chase T. Rogers, former chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court and partner at the Day Pitney law firm, to conduct a thorough external review and to provide recommendations for improving university preparedness and response.

    Following interviews with and review of multiple statements by students, police officers, and administrators as well as a comprehensive analysis of body and police vehicle dash camera footage, the review is now complete. It determined that there was probable cause supporting each of the four arrests; it also found that the arrests taken in total did not follow best practices. The review detailed two lapses in particular; first, YPD officers did not follow best practices for crowd control in the peaceful arrest of the two students, and second, a YPD officer used tactics that were inconsistent with YPD policy and involved disproportionate use of force under the circumstances in the arrest of one of the non-Yale affiliates. The review concluded that the Yale chief of police did not use excessive force in the arrest of the other non-Yale affiliate.

    Several officers had difficulty communicating with one another due to the noise volume of the protest, which made it challenging to assess the situation clearly. Regardless of the factors involved, I share our community’s expectation that members of YPD hold themselves to the highest standards, and we must take responsibility when we fall short.

    Because YPD is a fully commissioned police department, arrests made by YPD are turned over to the New Haven judicial district, and decisions about pursuing criminal charges are made by the state prosecutor’s office. We have shared the external reviewer’s findings with that office, including the finding that not all these arrests followed best practices.

    We are grateful to Ms. Rogers and Day Pitney for their work and are in the process of implementing not only their recommendations, but also a set of additional actions. I take enormous pride in the work YPD does for our community, and we are taking the following steps to improve the service we provide for those on our campus:

    • Requiring that the chief of police and the YPD leadership team complete additional training and scenario-based practice exercises for arrest and use of force, including field-based training on crowd control and effective communication with participants.
    • Improving communications equipment for managing loud, disruptive environments.
    • Taking personnel action in appropriate cases that follows department protocols and the collective bargaining agreement.
    • Improving decision-making and communication to field officers during fast-moving and rapidly changing events and incidents.
    • Providing clearer resources for the Yale community on policies regarding protest and free expression, as well as on the legal implications of an arrest and the state law enforcement and judicial process that takes place following an arrest by YPD.

    The job of YPD is to protect and serve members of the Yale community, bearing in mind our university’s commitment to both free expression and campus safety. We must uphold best practices in this work, so that this campus can continue to be a haven for learning and growth. We remain committed to continuously improving how we do that work in partnership with you.

    Sincerely,

    Duane J. Lovello
    Head of Public Safety