Cal State Long Beach police union defends officer accused of racially profiling professor
New body cam footage from a Cal State Long Beach campus police officer has been released, showing the moments an officer confronted sociology professor Dr. Steven Osuna.
Earlier this month in an interview with CBSLA Reporter Lesley Marin, Osuna claimed that he was racially profiled by the officer.
Osuna told Marin that he had locked himself out of his office building after preparing for a session for incoming transfer students.
"According to him, I looked like a suspect," Osuna said. "I didn't fit the profile of a faculty member."
But the university's police union made it clear on Monday that it is defending the officer that refused to let Osuna into the building due to university protocol.
In the bodycam video that was released by the campus police union on Monday, you can hear Osuna say, "I'm locked out."
When the officer asked Osuna if he had his identification card, Osuna made it clear he did not.
The incident took place on May 25.
Meanwhile, the police union claimed the officer was just following university protocol, which requires faculty to identify themselves with ID in the situation that they're locked out of their office.
Osuna made every plea to try and convince the officer to cut him a break.
"In there I have pictures of myself and my family. You'll see that, I promise you'll see that," Osuna said to the officer. "You just got to open up the hallway I just forgot my keys when I used the restroom."
Ultimately, Osuna was not let into the building. Osuna claimed to the officer that if he was a white faculty member, the end result would have been different.
"We could have been wrongfully letting in an employee that had been wrongfully terminated or placed on administrative leave. There is all kinds of reasons for this policy to exist," statewide university police association president Matt Kroner told Marin.
The union is now pushing back against Osuna's claims, asking the university to investigate the situation.
"We know racism exists, not just in police work but across all professions," Kroner said. "We're not denying that, we just believe he falsely injected race into a policy dispute."
When Marin spoke to Dr. Osuna earlier this month, he along with the the teacher's union claimed many other white counterparts that found themselves in similar situations were let into their office without question.
"According to him I looked like a suspect right. I didn't fit the profile of a faculty member," Osuna said.
Both sides however agree that the university's policy should change.
Marin reached out to Osuna, who said he still believes that the protocol isn't being used fairly.
The university has not gotten back to CBSLA with a comment on the situation.
