Exclusive: Undercover UCPD Officers Rampant in University Administration
By Stephen Lurie
March 4, 2013
A Chicago Shady Dealer investigation has uncovered indisputable evidence that police officers in the employ of the UCPD have been operating undercover in a wide array of positions on campus. Following closely on Friday’s Chicago Maroon piece exposing undercover detective Janelle Marcellis’s attendance at a recent UCMC protest, The Dealer opened its own investigation into the depth with which undercover officers have embedded themselves in the community.
A variety of anonymous sources as well as hundreds of pages of documentation unearthed by The Dealer suggest that over 40 persons ostensibly employed by the University in an assortment of roles are in fact UCPD detectives. Placed in a range of positions and levels of power, it seems the police department has made a covert and determined effort to keep tabs on student activity. Among the shocking revelations include the fact that a number of senior administration officials–three deans, two vice presidents, one University Trustee– are UCPD detectives serving in their current roles for over 10 years each. his is not the extent of the deception, however: Employees from Dining Services, Transportation, the Library system and Athletics have all come forward voluntarily as UCPD detectives in the wake of the Marcellis scandal.
Overnight Regenstein library attendant, Jeanne Chung, finally felt able to speak out about her position. Chung told The Dealer, “I never really accepted that 10 years in the police force and 3 as a detective had led me to nightshifts at a Library. My bosses kept telling me how important it was to track student movements, but these kids never really leave the library anyway, so I don’t get it.” Indeed, as we have learned from the breadth of surveillance around campus, UCPD officials have become more and more intent on an all-encompassing network of reconnaissance. Fourth-year, and Henry Crown regular, Joe Sandford remarked of the news, “So that’s why they always need to swipe our ID’s–to isolate the fittest and strongest in case of a protest.” Famed pasta chef Carl Martin is also believed to be a UCPD detective, to the great disbelief of many long-time Bartlett patrons. Various students told us they had never suspected his interest in their lives to have ulterior motives. Martin is believed to have served as a detective for over 25 years in roles with an assortment of enforcement agencies and police departments around the United States, including time with the FBI.
As for higher ranking officials, details continue to emerge that upend the perception of unrivaled transparency of the University Administration. While early rumors that President Robert Zimmer was a UCPD officer have since been dispelled, many others in the administration have been implicated. Marlon Lynch, long thought by certain campus groups, including SHE, to be a UCPD operative has been confirmed as such. Jim Nondorf, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Advancement, is said to have been directed by UCPD to only admit students less prone to dissenting behavior. The attempt at controlling student activity was not limited to campus. Director of Study Abroad Sarah Walter was also named in a cache of documents submitted to The Dealer. A UCPD operative for 3 years, Walter was previously employed by INTERPOL and as an international security consultant for a private firm.
While the direct motivation for the widespread operation is currently unknown, its exposure alone has been enough to send a shockwave across campus. UCPD has refused our request for comment, but at presstime were seen fleeing Hyde Park en masse on Segway tricycles.
