Four NIU students accused of shoplifting in an allegedly racist incident at the Holmes Student Center Bookstore last semester took advantage of the opportunity to harass bookstore employees after increased security surveillance, according to an investigative report released June 23.

The report by the Ad Hoc Bookstore Security Committee also stated that while the Jan. 21 incident did not involve “consistent racial bias,” several bookstore employees did display a “disturbing lack of sensitivity for minority and student concerns.”

The report identified management problems “predating the current director (some of which were ineffectively handled by the current director)” as roots of the incident’s complicated nature. These problems included the lack of a comprehensive security plan to deal with inventory shrinkage.

William Parker, interim associate vice president for business and operations, chaired the seven-member, biracial committee which was formed in early February to investigate the incident. He said bookstore manager Stanley Shedaker had decided to let student employees handle store surveillance in an effort to curb widespread shoplifting, while waiting for installation of a new electronic security system.

One black male and three black female students were stopped by bookstore employees Jan. 21 on suspicion of shoplifting. University Police Officer John Hunter was called to the bookstore for investigation. Employees said the students became verbally abusive when Hunter asked them for student identification, and the students were taken to the bookstore office for investigation. However, no stolen goods were found.

“The January 21 incident was precipitated by the appearance of excessive surveillance of some black students by bookstore staff on and before January 21,” the report stated. This resulted in “threats to and harassmemt of bookstore staff by some black students…

“The student security staff was put in an untenable position,” the report stated. Committee members said the staff should have been provided with appropriate training and supervision.

Shedaker could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The students involved and several other campus groups had said the bookstore situation was an example of widespread racism on campus.

Parker said, “The students who created the incident were aware of the management and staff deficiencies and exploited them fully to their own advantage.” He said the students involved in the incident might have been trying to see if they could “beat the system.”

NIU Ombudsman Bertrand Simpson, who served on the committee, said, “It was obvious that (increased) surveillance was going on, and people don’t like extra attention like that … It’s not unusual for students to take advantage of such a situation.”

Parker said the “period of silence” by bookstore employees after the incident left the situation “up for interpretation.” He said silence surrounding the situation led to the erroneous belief that the bookstore had acted with prejudice.

The lack of quick and accurate information being released at the time also led to distorted reports of racism by the media, according to the committee’s report.

Simpson said, “I agreed that there was no bias in the incident. Some situations escalated and were racially-tinged, but I don’t think that’s how the bookstore generally works.”

One of the students involved said she did not wish to comment on the report, and two others could not be contacted Tuesday.