TransparUNCy hosts teach-in, discusses surveillance and police presence

On Oct. 29, TransparUNCy and the UNC Affirmative Action Coalition hosted their sixth teach-in of the semester centered around University surveillance and policing.

Julian Taylor, co-founder and executive member of the AAC, and Christina Huang, president of the AAC, gave the presentation, speaking about topics including the history of policing, the Silent Sam monument removal in 2018, UNC Police's actions during the Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment and campus surveillance.

They also referenced historical police interactions with UNC's Black Student Movement, the switch to the new Student Conduct System and the University's stance of "institutional neutrality."

The teach-in began with Taylor and Huang speaking about the history of policing in North Carolina and at UNC.

“North Carolina, specifically, has a really dark history of these militias and police forces, and one of the things I want to bring up is the Wilmington Coup of 1898," Taylor said. "It’s the only successful coup ever on American soil since the founding of the country.”

The Wilmington Coup, also know as The Wilmington Massacre,  of 1898 was orchestrated by 2,000 white supremacists against The Daily Record, a Black-owned newspaper in Wilmington. William R. Kenan Sr., one of the coup's militia leaders, was the namesake of Kenan Memorial Stadium before the stadium received a new plaque honoring his son.

During the teach-in, Taylor also spoke about current UNC Police Chief Brian James.

In the chain of command, James answers to the associate vice chancellor for Campus Safety and Risk Management, who reports to the chief of staff to the chancellor, who then answers to Chancellor Roberts.

"The chief of police, he has power in day-to-day training, but the game time decisions? A lot of those are administration," Taylor said.

In an email statement to The Daily Tar Heel, UNC Media Relations confirmed this as an accurate reporting of the chain of command for UNC police. They wrote that the UNCPD formerly reported up through the Vice Chancellor of Institutional Integrity and Risk Management, George Battle III, until the department was restructured when Battle left the University earlier this year. 

"Safety and security decisions are guided and informed by the experience and expertise of the UNC Police leadership and the AVC of Campus Safety and Risk Management, who have several decades of experience in law enforcement and public safety," Media Relations wrote. 

Media Relations wrote that additional security was implemented during the week of Oct. 7 to ensure safety and security due to the "significance of the week" and the "notable events and anticipated activities" planned on campus.

"Regarding the events of this semester, UNC Police takes many factors into account when determining the level of staffing," they said in their statement. "These include current landscape and environment, previous interactions with the groups at the event and the potential for conflict between two or more groups. The University works with groups who request reserved space for their events to help ensure they are successful and peaceful."

When The Daily Tar Heel reached out about fencing on Oct. 7, Media Relations said that they do not provide information on fencing for security reasons.

In an interview with The DTH after the presentation, Taylor said he thinks that there has been an increased police presence on campus since the spring 2024 semester.

“I don't think that there were any attempts slowing that down," he said.

The presentation portion of the teach-in concluded with Huang addressing the new implementations of surveillance on campus, including facial recognition cameras and security cameras around campus. Huang also spoke about the termination of former-Professor Larry Chavis, whose lectures were recorded without his knowledge.

“It's not only about ‘what does the policy say UNC can do,'” Huang said. “As we saw with Dr. Chavis, it’s about ‘what can UNC access’ and 'what can they do.’”

After the presentation, TransparUNCy held a discussion  where audience members could reflect on the content in small groups and ask questions to the presenters and larger group.

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