Expressing concern and outrage at the allegedly offensive behavior of a �huge� police unit outside Caf� Parizade late Thursday night, a group of students filed a formal complaint Monday with the Duke University Police Department.
Expressing concern and outrage at the allegedly offensive behavior of a “huge” police unit outside Café Parizade late Thursday night, a group of students filed a formal complaint Monday with the Duke University Police Department.
Details of the grievance were unavailable Monday as the DUPD prepared an internal investigation into the events. Several students, however, alleged that officers denied them access to a party hosted by a fraternity from North Carolina Central University, a historically black college, and mocked them for questioning the police presence swarming the parking lot of one of the most popular nightclubs among Duke students.
“I understand that police have discretion in terms of what parties they cover and what parties they do not,” senior Caroline Baker said. “It’s more the way they treated us that upsets me. We’re Duke students, we weren’t drunk or belligerent, we were just asking questions in a situation that looks racial and suspicious.”
Renee Vaughn, a senior, said DUPD officers mocked her when she asked why there were more police than were customary for Thursday night parties regularly sponsored by Duke organizations at Parizade. DUPD’s jurisdiction expanded to include areas around East Campus and Ninth Street—including Parizade—at the beginning of the school year.
“Just out of curiosity, my roommate and I asked why there was extra security,” said Vaughn, who described the police presence as “huge” relative to many other nights at the club. “Some of the cops were very rude. When they walked away, they started singing ‘We Shall Overcome,’ but when we asked them about it, they denied singing it.”
Baker recalled arriving at Parizade around 12:30 a.m. Thursday night and finding approximately eight DUPD cars in the parking lot and “no one out front except police.” She estimated that stationed several yards in front of the expansive courtyard entrance there were 12 to 15 officers who said the establishment was full to the capacity allowed by fire codes and prevented students from entering the party, which was thrown by the NCCU chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
“I’ve seen [Parizade] much more full than that,” said Baker, who described herself as a frequent patron of the Main Street club. “It didn’t look crowded, but even some of the people who were throwing the party couldn’t get in.”
When Baker questioned the police presence, she said, the officers were not responsive and told her, “Just walk away, ma’am.”
Vaughn said she asked some of the DUPD officers for their names and badge numbers, but several of them told her that they were not required to give that information.
One senior who had been at Verde, the restaurant and late-night bar next to Parizade, said he came over to see why so many police officers and vehicles were present. The student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity “to keep from throwing gas on the fire,” repeatedly asked the police officers on the scene why they were there, he said, but the officers refused to answer and became agitated. Later, one officer “bumrushed” him while he was talking to a friend near the Parizade entrance, grabbing him and tearing his shirt, the student said.
DUPD Chief Clarence Birkhead said he is “still trying to get all the facts” and that he does not know which officers were assigned to Parizade Thursday. It will be at least several days, he said, until the investigation yields any results.
“I have received a formal complaint, and we will begin investigating,” he said. “Any allegation of unprofessional behavior by a police officer is serious, and if any wrongdoing occurred we will uncover it.”
Management at Café Parizade said police presence was heavier than usual Thursday, but that nothing outside of the establishment seemed out of the ordinary.
“We requested the police officers; we use them for security,” said Charles Tolo, one of the club’s managers. “There were more police officers because someone called them, saying that their car had been broken into. If anything, the only thing that was unusual was that [customers] came unusually early.”
Tolo said that a customary Thursday police complement at the nightclub is between two and five police officers. Like Baker, he estimated there were eight police cars in the parking lot Thursday. The club received no complaints from any of the event’s organizers or any partygoers. Saturday night’s “Iced Out” party, held at Parizade by Duke’s Delta Tau Delta fraternity, saw larger crowds but a smaller police presence.
“I wouldn’t pin it as a racial issue,” Vaughn said. “It just seemed very odd that there was so much more security there that night.”
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