Where’s the description? On Wednesday, September 1, the Notre Dame Police Department reported receiving a report of sexual battery on campus over the weekend. The report was sent over email to Notre Dame students. No description of the suspect was provided. According to the press release, the victim “was unable to provide a description of the suspect at the time of the report.” That may be true. However, in an email just days earlier to students and staff, in the early hours of Saturday, the Notre Dame Police Department described the suspects in a Notre Dame Avenue armed robbery in which no physical injuries were reported as “two African American men both with dark complexion, dressed in all dark clothing.“ Noticeably, the description of the incident was slightly different than the one released via email minutes earlier by the Office of Campus Safety, where the suspects involved in the same armed robbery are described as “two males both with dark skin, dressed in all dark clothing.” Why the difference in these descriptions? Does it have to do with race, color or class?
Oliver Ortega
PhD Student
Sept. 8
