Sunday Dec. 10 3:28 p.m.: This story has been updated with a Thursday statement from the professor, who said he was not made aware that a private arrest was taking place at the time of the incident. TSL reached out to both CPD and TCCS for comment on the matter, and did not receive a response from either.
TSL also updated the story to include a Dec. 2 statement from TCCS indicating that they did not have a private arrest policy and had not detained the professor at any point in time. The statement was added to better reflect TCCS’ perspective.
According to the Claremont Police Department (CPD), Campus Safety (TCCS) conducted a private person’s arrest before CPD officially arrested a Pomona College faculty member Nov. 29, contradicting TCCS’ initial statement that Campus Safety was not involved in CPD’s decision to arrest the professor.
CPD initially responded to Campus Safety’s request for assistance in addressing a noise disturbance by an unidentified individual, who they ultimately arrested on trespassing charges. The individual was an Intercollegiate Department of Chicanx/Latinx professor playing loud music from a speaker and protesting in solidarity with Palestinians.
TCCS spokesperson Laura Muna-Landa told TSL Saturday that after the professor failed to identify themselves, Campus Safety contacted CPD who then “took charge of the situation.” Muna-Landa stated that “Campus Safety had no further role in the resulting actions.”
“The Claremont Police Department made the decision to arrest the individual for trespassing,” Muna-Landa said in a previous Friday statement.
However, CPD Lieutenant Robert Ewing told TSL Monday that Campus Safety formally conducted a private person’s arrest, otherwise known as a citizen’s arrest.
“[The professor] was placed under private person’s arrest by Campus Safety. He was not arrested by CPD personnel. CPD officers accepted their arrest,” Ewing said via email.
A private arrest allows someone to arrest another person on probable cause of a public offense, misdemeanor or felony. Whether the individual is brought into police custody depends on if police agree to and accept the arrest.
The professor told TSL Thursday that they were not aware they had been placed under a private person’s arrest while it was happening, signifying what they felt was a lapse in campus protocols.
“This incident is beyond the actions of one person,” the professor told TSL. “There are greater implications on how this college functions in its daily operations.”
According to California penal code 837, an individual must be told that they have been put under private arrest and given a reason for why.
CPD did not respond to TSL’s inquiry on whether the professor had been informed about the private arrest.
Muna-Landa told TSL Dec. 2 that Campus Safety does not have a private detention policy. She also said that Campus Safety had not detained the professor at any point.
Muna-Landa declined to answer TSL’s questions about the private arrest and whether or not they informed the professor in the process.
According to CPD, after Campus Safety filled out a Private Person’s Arrest form, CPD chose to accept the arrest and placed the professor under their custody on trespassing charges. On Monday, CPD dropped the trespassing charges, according to an email President Starr sent to faculty.
Muna-Landa corroborated the dropped charges Wednesday.
“The Claremont Colleges Services requested that the Claremont Police Department drop all charges against the individual,” Muna-Landa said. “This request has been honored, and there will be no record of the event.”
Campus Safety had initially requested the assistance of CPD for a noise complaint, and the decision for a citizen’s arrest did not occur until after CPD had arrived on campus, Ewing said in an interview with TSL.
During the arrest, the professor repeatedly told officers that they worked on campus, as did several witnesses audible in the videos obtained by TSL.
On Wednesday, Muna-Landa declined to comment on Campus Safety’s arrest request forms, including who signed them and why. She said TCCS is actively investigating the incident, as well as related policies and training practices.
“We will share the recommendations and actions that emerge,” Muna-Landa said via email.
Director of Campus Safety Mike Hallinan was present during the arrest, according to Ewing and video evidence. Hallinan has not responded to TSL’s request for an interview.
In a Tuesday interview with TSL, Starr said Pomona will evaluate its racial profiling policies, as well as the policies that may have allowed for the presence of police in a non-emergency situation without consultation between the college and Campus Safety. While the college’s investigation of the incident is still underway, Starr said, at this point she does not believe racial profiling led to the arrest of the professor.
“I have serious concerns whenever police are called to campus, and it’s of utmost importance to me that our full community feel the confidence of public safety, that they will support our community. And that’s what I’m taking it upon myself to make sure,” Starr said.
The college has yet to address the arrest to the campus community. When asked if the college plans to release a statement on the arrest to the campus community, Starr said the college is considering what it needs to say.
“What’s most important for me is to figure out as well as we can what exactly happened because we do not want that to happen on our campus again,” Starr said.
John Paul Ferrantino contributed reporting.
Jenna McMurtry PO ’24 was the editor-in-chief of TSL from May 2022 to December 2022. Before that, she was a news editor and news writer for two semesters each. She also brought back the Special Projects desk, added a data desk and co-founded the Spanish translation desk.
One thought on “Claremont police say Campus Safety conducted ‘private person’s arrest’ before professor arrest, drop trespassing charges at Claremont Colleges’ request”
Comments are closed.