On Friday, Sept. 4, the Utica Police Department (UPD) responded to a domestic incident, where the suspect, Kerwin Taylor, was armed, fled the scene, and resisted arrest. After seizing the firearm and eventually being handcuffed and arrested, Taylor was transferred from a police car to a police van. Subsequent body camera footage from another officer shows Officer Matthew Felitto being in the van with Taylor. Taylor was lying on his back on the floor, handcuffed, when Felitto is seen kicking or stomping at least 3 times on Taylor’s head before another officer is heard screaming “stop” twice.

In a released statement, the City of Utica described it as “engaging in unauthorized physical force” which “UPD does not tolerate or condone. At this time, the City of Utica has probable cause to believe Officer Felitto was not advancing the interests of the Department and the City.”

Utica released the statement on Sept. 10, along with the almost hour-long body cam footage from the whole incident. It was also announced that Felitto was immediately suspended without pay, and “the City will be seeking termination under the collective bargaining agreement.” The

Observer-Dispatch

wrote that Felitto had 11 incident reports on his record — including two civilian complaints and a bodycam violation — all over roughly just one and a half years with the department.

President Wippman released a statement announcing this incident, among others that have occured on campus since our return, writing “Racism and bigotry in all forms have no place on our campus, in our community, or in our country.”

Several felt that the email sent out did not do enough. Juliet Davidson ’23, felt that “Wippman’s ‘statement,’ if you can call a poorly-written email with as much activistic energy as a white man going ‘I have Black friends.’” She further contended that “not only did the email neglect to name the officer, Matthew Felitto, but it also neglected to relay tangible action being taken by the College to mobilize support for the Utica community or for the students who have been victims of harassment.”

Despite the increase in awareness about police brutality, especially towards BIPOC, this incident went relatively unnoticed on campus. After talking to many students on campus, looking for students to interview, it became clear that this incident was not common knowledge.

Claire O’Brien ’21, stated that upon watching the bodycam video, “It was really jarring. We have seen so many of those videos, but it’s always a shock to have the Hamilton bubble penetrated, and see something like that so close to home.” She also added that “Most police departments across this country need serious internal reform…in this particular incident we needed to see the Utica PD better discipline him for his prior violations so it doesn’t get to this point.”

Government Department Professor Gbemende Johnson had similar feelings, although she added “It was surprising to hear how quickly Utica acted, in a positive way…This seems to be slightly different, in comparison to the more high profile cases. I was surprised with how quickly they are trying to deal with this issue…”

On the other hand, students including Davidson felt that “The Utica Police Department classifying Officer Matthew’s actions as an “unauthorized use of force” rather than reflective of an egregious failure in the force’s training, structure, and officers themselves is an attempt to preserve its reputation, not properly acknowledging the incident. The UPD is in no place to defend their “swift and decisive action” or celebrate themselves…transparency or the “honor” of their institution and officers. Their statement should have explicitly recognized that they have failed their community and are perpetrators of systemic violence against Black men.”

On campus, there are several resources being made available for students looking for support regarding these issues. Professor Johnson recalls that after the death of George Floyd “you definitely see more conversation about it on campus in various ways. There is the Advisory Council, and one of the things that it is doing…is to bring in a consultant to help the campus address some of the issues that students, faculty, and staff have expressed that the campus probably isn’t handling as well as it could…” In addition, Johnson mentions “that a number of groups on campus such as BLSU have played a persistent role in working to get issues of equity, discrimination, and access addressed on campus.”

According to Dean of Students Terry Martinez, some resources on campus include “BetterMynd, an organization that provides access to a network of counselors for teletherapy. It has been difficult for us to hire BIPOC therapists, but this service connects us with numerous therapists for teletherapy, which now includes Black therapists. Students can contact David Walden to connect with these therapists.”

Professor Johnson concluded with a strong statement about racism. “The George Floyd protest brought attention to an issue that people have been working on and trying to bring attention to for a long time. Issues like systemic racism and police violence, these are not new things. The gravity of the footage really sparked a movement. Addressing these issues is hard work, it takes a long time…One will hope the momentum that was brought on from the George Floyd protests will continue forward. This is not a new issue. You don’t want people to get excited about it and then get bored, and say okay, next thing…if this is something you care about, if you care about diversity, inclusion, equality, and safety, then this is something that you have to take part in for the long haul.”

This story is still in progress as an internal investigation into Felitto’s actions is conducted.