Letter: Why Were Amherst Police Present at a Violent Police Action?

The following letter was sent to Amherst Police Chief Gabe Ting with copies to the Town Manager and Town Council on May 17, 2024.

I regret that my first letter to you in your new role, and indeed, my first letter to the Amherst Police in 34 years of living in town, is one of grave concern. I am writing in regard to the May 7 debacle on the UMass campus in which Amherst police officers joined UMass, State, and Hadley Police in breaking up and arresting more than 130 peaceful protestors. The police response, with no less than 117 vehicles, was entirely disproportionate to the situation. That evening, responding to alarming videos and calls for support from the student encampment and community allies, I ventured down to the campus on foot. What I witnessed shocked me. Police officers with riot gear and in some cases with their weapons drawn were standing off against students, faculty, and community members who were not blocking roads or disrupting classes or damaging property. 

Police had sealed off the area where a small group of protestors remained and were marching them to police vehicles. I watched while group after group, including friends of mine–two young mothers–were forced to kneel on the ground while their hands were zip-tied behind their backs. I heard later, after many arrestees had been held all night before being released on bail, that police had not allowed some of them to use the toilet for many hours. Some had been pepper-sprayed, others wrestled to the ground. I am angry and ashamed that our Amherst police were a part of this. 

As an Amherst native yourself, you must be aware of the history of protest in our town. We are a town with a social conscience that believes in education and in civic engagement. What was happening at the encampment on the UMass campus was exactly that. Faculty were bringing their classes to the encampment, teach-ins were being conducted, people were singing, families were bringing their children. What kind of provocation or threat justified the excessive police response that night?

The participation of the Amherst Police was all the more disturbing to me because just a few weeks before, in response to an outpouring of community feeling, the Amherst Town Council had passed a resolution in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. The 760+ community supporters of the resolution, some of whom visited the student encampment and some of whom were arrested on May 7, had raised their voices loud and clear about the use of their federal tax dollars to kill civilians in Gaza. And here was the town of Amherst sending its police out at night to support the arrests of peaceful protestors of that carnage, most of whom were Amherst residents themselves. 

I have read Town Manager Bockelman’s email to the Town Council in which he minimizes the role of the Amherst Police as having been “called in for backup on the perimeter.” Whatever their role, the fact remains that our police responded to the call. Although I have been making inquiries, I have been unable to learn who authorized the dispatch of Amherst police to the UMass campus. I am aware that there may be a reciprocal agreement whereby a call for backup from one police force to another must be answered. If that is the case, I want to know exactly what that arrangement consists of and whether the decision-maker in our town has any leeway, depending on the situation on the ground. Why should we send Amherst police to assist in quelling a protest of our own townspeople in our own town who are not disturbing the peace and in no way present a clear and present danger? In fact, instead of police, why wouldn’t this situation been more appropriate for CRESS, given their mandate to help in de-escalating tense situations? 

I call on you, as our new Chief of Police, to speak to our Amherst community on this issue. UMass Amherst Chancellor Reyes has unfortunately gotten off to a rocky start in his new position because of the unfortunate call he has made, first in arresting 57 entirely non-violent students in the fall, and now arresting even more students, faculty, and community members in this unnecessary show of force. What’s done is done, but I hope that we can do better in our town in the future and look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Josna Rege

Josna Rege is a resident of Amherst