by anonymous, April 4, 2025, 12:41 ///
A week ago today, on March 28th, at an event hosted by the Chicago Forum on Free Expression about the ongoing assault on Universities by the current administration, a community member identified a member of the audience as a plainclothes University of Chicago Police Department officer. Said officer was positioned in the back of the room wearing the outfit of an ISAC employee.
Over the past weeks, the world watched in horror the video of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk being kidnapped by plainclothes federal agents. While the blatant nature of this act is shocking, the tactics used are not. ICE has commonly used undisclosed officers to commit acts of violence over the past two decades. What is urgent for University of Chicago students – particularly those most actively targeted by ICE – to be aware of is that University of Chicago Police Department officers have employed, and will continue to employ, similar tactics.
While the Chicago Police Department is prohibited from partnering with ICE, similar laws do not apply to the privately-operated UCPD. Because of this reality, students must remain vigilant, and try to familiarize themselves with UCPD officers. In the following weeks, Deerwoman will be publishing resources aimed at helping students do this. Additionally, Deerwoman will be publishing information for students at risk which explain the specifics of the University’s policies related to ICE.
It is plainly obvious to students who have watched UCPD’s blatant harassment and abuse of students, particularly students of color, over the past year and a half that this organization poses a direct threat to vulnerable students. Because of this, it is helpful for us to understand the specifics of UCPD tactics.
The most notable use of undercover UCPD officers was in 2013 during the eventually victorious Trauma Center campaign. During a protest on February 23rd, 2013, officer Janelle Marcellis was directed to participate in the rally disguised as a student protestor. This news was broken by actual student protestors with the help of the then value-driven Maroon newspaper. While an investigation was conducted, and Marcellis as well as one other officer were placed on leave, this was the extent of the consequences. In the time since, Marcellis has been promoted to the role of Deputy Chief.
This tactic does not exist in a vacuum. UCPD has proven over the past year and a half to be a militarized force employed against students and Hyde Park community members. Increased use of riot gear, the stop-and-frisk-esque policies employed against Black and Muslim students, and the aggravated arrests of students all attest that this group does not exist for our safety.
The risk of deportation remains elevated for students who exercise their First Amendment rights. To protect them, and all of us, we must adopt a culture of vigilance towards UCPD and turn the tide of campus militarization that has led to incidents like that which occurred at Tufts this past week.
We must all push for the University to adopt the city’s policy of non-cooperation with ICE, ban UCPD’s use of undercover officers, and take many other critical steps to end the organization’s abuse of Hyde Park and the surrounding neighborhoods. The militarized tactics used on our campus are not isolated to the present targetting of anti-genocide activists, however this moment provides an opportunity. It is now, during the moment of national visiblity that there can be a popularly supported push for the University to ban the use of plainclothes officers. Plainclothes officers are an essential part of the infrastructure of repression, fueled by this university, that now scares them as it threatens their funding.
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