After leading the restructuring of the Department of Public Safety Oversight Committee, Sam Gross announced yesterday that he is stepping down as the committee's chair five months before his term expires.
In a two-page letter addressed to interim University President Homer Neal, Gross said he is resigning immediately because of time constraints.
"At the moment, the committee is in a quiet state," said Gross, a Law School professor. "If there was a reason the committee had to start a new investigation, I'm afraid I wouldn't have enough time."
In addition to teaching at the Law School, Gross is a member of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, the faculty's governing board.
Gross said he has spent much of the past year as chair organizing and structuring the oversight committee, which previously did not even have its own office or official chair.
"I'm not surprised that he stepped down because it took up a lot of time," said Corey Hill, a former committee member and University alum.
Gross also indicated in his letter that he thinks DPS is still uneasy with the presence of the oversight committee.
"I think it's fair to say that the leadership of the DPS, perhaps inevitably, remains uncomfortable with the Oversight Committee," the letter stated. "But I am confident that these issues will be resolved over time by the Oversight Committee and the DPS."
DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall said she had no comment on Gross' resignation, but said DPS is "fully committed to working with the oversight committee."
Gross described the relationship between DPS and the committee as "challenging" because of the number of structural changes that have taken place since June.
Vice President for University Relations Walter Harrison called the tension between the patrol force and the committee necessary and healthy.
"I think things have been a little more tense here because we're still getting used to having our own police department," Harrison said.
School of Music Dean Paul Boylan praised Gross for the leadership he brought to the committee.
"I, along with everyone else in the University, should be grateful to Prof. Gross for the very caring and thoughtful leadership he brought to the oversight committee during a very difficult year," Boylan said.
Boylan, who chairs the Task Force on Campus Safety and Security, said the group will investigate the procedures surrounding complaints against DPS. Boylan said he hopes to complete his report before the semester ends.
The oversight committee was first formed in 1991 to serve as an advisory group to address grievances and complaints filed against DPS, which was formed in 1989.
But it was not until last June, as a result of a shoving match between several DPS officers and Office of Academic and Multicultural Initiatives Director John Matlock, that the committee was empowered to conduct independent investigations into complaints. This was the first complaint that the committee had received since its inception in 1991.
Matlock's arrest at a basketball tournament sponsored by the Black Volunteer Network last February raised questions about DPS officers' treatment of minorities and led to an investigation of the incident.
The complaint, however, was almost meaningless because the oversight committee was restricted from interviewing DPS officers, therefore curtailing its investigation. In May, despite DPS' objection, the University granted the committee power to interview any officer believed to have relevant information about the case. The committee was also asked to conduct an investigation into DPS policies and practices.
The resulting nine-page report made the following recommendations: