Giri Viswanathan, Senior Photographer

On Jan. 26, the Yale College Council voted in favor of a proposal that would establish an oversight committee for the Yale Police Department.

The proposal, which cites concerns about YPD’s surveillance of pro-Palestinian protesters last academic year, seeks to establish a board composed of two undergraduate students, two graduate students and five faculty members to oversee YPD surveillance, use of force policies and work with external agencies.

To ensure that a new board has true authority, Joseph Elsayyid ’26, senator from Davenport College and the sponsor of the bill, said that it should have access to YPD records such as surveillance logs, enforcement decisions and external collaboration agreements. Moreover, it should have the ability to publish reports regarding the YPD’s actions and a say in approving or rejecting surveillance measures.

Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis told the News that the University is “in favor” of having a police advisory board with student input.

“We do have plans to create an advisory board, and it will include student representation,” Lewis said. “The general idea of having an advisory board, we’re in favor. There have been some personnel transitions, so that’s one of the reasons that hasn’t happened soon. But we definitely are interested in getting student voice in these decisions.”

Elsayyid’s proposed committee is not the first attempt to provide more oversight of the YPD. 

Until this past summer, a Police Advisory Board composed of faculty, students, staff and a New Haven community member was tasked with reviewing serious civilian complaints the department received. A separate Advisory Committee on Community Policing was established in 2019 to provide input on police operations during a period of heightened tensions between students and the police. 

The advisory bodies — both of which are documented in a 2020 external review of the YPD — are no longer active, according to the department’s website and annual security reports.

The YCC proposal followed the publication of nearly 2,000 documents obtained by student journalist Theia Chatelle ’25 through a Freedom of Information Act request. The proposal links Chatelle’s article about the documents and asserts that the records reveal “concerning practices” employed by the YPD that “undermine student privacy, expression and the University’s community commitments.”

The proposal alleges that the YPD engaged in activities such as deploying military-grade drones to surveil student activity, monitoring the social media accounts of student organizers and tracking student ID swipes to compile a list of students at risk for “potential disciplinary or criminal action.”

Yale Public Safety Director Duane Lovello confirmed that drones were used during the spring protests but said that they were operated by Yale Security, not the YPD. Some of the drone footage snapshots released in the published files came from a drone used by the New Haven Police Department.

The documents did reveal that YPD analysts heavily tracked accounts belonging to pro-Palestinian student groups, going so far as to create a spreadsheet listing student followers of the Yalies4Palestine and OccupyYale Instagram accounts. The YPD also created a list of last year’s Spring Fling attendees who followed these accounts.

In several instances, the FBI offered assistance to the YPD to monitor student protests. FBI agents participated in a Zoom call with Yale Public Safety officials about security during the 2024 commencement.

“It is best practice for law enforcement agencies, including YPD, to share information on a broad range of activity with other law enforcement partners, including the FBI,” Lovello wrote to the News.

Elsayyid said that upon discovering previously withheld information about the YPD’s tactics, he felt compelled to create a committee that would regulate the department’s power.

“For many in the Yale community, this proposal represents a necessary step toward rebuilding trust between students and YPD,” Elsayyid said. “Transparency and accountability should not be controversial. By implementing clear oversight mechanisms, we aim to ensure that YPD policies align with Yale’s stated commitments to its community and values.”

Elsayyid also emphasized that one “concerning incident” revealed in the YPD’s documents was the department’s collaboration with the Connecticut Intelligence Center, a division under the Department of Homeland Security devoted to “collaboration and information sharing between all levels of government” per its website

Elsayyid said that this network “has been widely criticized for targeting peace activists and communities of color.”

According to the files released, YPD officers communicated with investigators from the CTIC and Connecticut State Police. They also communicated with the Secure Communities Network, an organization that calls itself a liaison between Jewish communities and law enforcement organizations. The SCN reached out to the YPD after reports that a Jewish student was poked in the eye at a protest, which was later disputed.

The YCC proposal cites successful policy advisory boards such as the Police Accountability Board at the University of California, Davis and the New York Police Department’s Post Act as blueprints for upholding community trust.

Elsayyid’s policy passed with 18 “yes” votes, five “no” votes and two abstentions.

At the meeting, Morse College Senator Bende Doernyei ’26, who voted “no,” vocalized his concerns, saying that “[he was] not sure how students could be qualified to oversee the police.” He also said he has “never felt more unsafe in New Haven,” referring to incidents where he said he was “the victim of threats and attempted attacks by Yale non-affiliates.”

Instead, he believes that increasing CCTV and surveillance presence might instill a sense of faith in the law enforcement system, though he wrote to the News that he believes surveillance should not be used for monitoring protests. Doernyei wrote to the News after the meeting that he believes in students’ right to protest and transparency from the YPD.

Asked to comment on the resolution at large, Lovello wrote that Yale Public Safety “is committed to providing high levels of service in a transparent manner and in accordance with applicable law.”

The YCC was founded in 1972.

Ariela Lopez contributed reporting.

Update, Feb. 6: This article has been updated with additional information for Bende Doernyei’s ’26 quote.

NORA MOSES
Nora Moses covers Student Life for the News. She is a sophomore in Davenport College.
OLIVIA CYRUS
Olivia Cyrus covers the Yale College Council at Yale. Originally from Collierville, Tennessee, she is a first year in Morse College majoring in English.