The University of Massachusetts has asked the Ombuds Office to make a list of faculty willing to volunteer time as impartial observers at on campus events with police present.

These observers are not a new addition to UMass protocol; the Ombuds Office has been building a list of observers for five years. Before the Ombuds Office took on the responsibility, another office on campus handled the observers.

According to ombudsperson, Catherine Porter, the purpose of the observers is to act as an impartial third-party in the case that an incident should occur involving the police and students interacting.

“In no case would an observer participate in any part of the activity,” said Porter. “This system of observers is in place to assure fairness and accuracy in reporting what transpired.”

In essence, the role of the observer would be to stand quietly at the event and in no way intervene with the situation.

“It seems that police word often has more power over students’ when it comes to explaining the details of an incident, and therefore having an impartial person recall the details would provide equality to both the students and the police officers,” said sophomore Nicole Bowker-Kelly.

The recent student strike is an example of an event where observers were present due to the fact that so many students were involved and there was the potential for interaction among police and students.

The position is on a volunteer basis by faculty and staff and is not a requirement of their position within the University.

Speaking about the position in past experience, Porter said, “I believe we served the purpose for which we were intended, to assure that neither the students nor the police were falsely accused of violating each others rights.

Our role is to observe and should something occur, we would report what we saw and heard. Essentially, we are there to see that the record of an event is accurate.”

Porter is confident that this system allows for more equal representation of both police and student perspectives. According to her, in the case of disruption an observer would be able to assure that either side did not make false claims regarding conduct.

Kristen Healy can be reached at student.umass.edu