The Nov. 6 incident began as an armed robbery with police searching for a black suspect, and ended with discussions on campus of racial profiling and how campus police treat minorities after an officer briefly detained the female student, who also is black.

Police said the robbery suspect was armed with a knife and demanded money from a student in a hallway of the Tupper Hall dormitory. The suspect remains at large.

UVM officials have declined to identify the officer, citing personnel issues and the ongoing disciplinary process. University spokesman Enrique Corredera said the officer is a "long-term employee" of the department. The officer had been reassigned to desk duty after the incident. He is being paid while on suspension.

The day after the officer detained the wrong student, UVM President Daniel Fogel ordered an inquiry into how police handled the situation. That inquest has now concluded, Corredera said.

"Serious mistakes were made in the police conduct that took place, and normal police procedures were not followed," Corredera said. "Based on that, we have initiated disciplinary action against the officer involved."

Corredera would not say what sort of punishment the university might give the officer. UVM Police Chief Gary Margolis has the final decision on how to discipline the officer, Corredera said. Margolis referred questions Friday to Corredera.

Margolis already has decided how the officer should be punished and has initiated the disciplinary process, Corredera said.

University officials have yet to decide whether to release the officer´s punishment after it´s made final, Corredera said. Disciplinary action usually is kept confidential, the spokesman said, but because of widespread discussions of the incident on campus, the outcome might be made public. That decision will lie with Fogel.

As he did the day after the incident, Fogel on Thursday sent an e-mail to faculty, staff and students to give them a personal update.

"We are holding people accountable for their actions," Fogel wrote, "and are instituting preventative mechanisms for the future."

Those mechanisms include an external review of campus-police procedures and policies, as well as a university investigation into the security of its residence halls.

The review of dorm safety is continuing, Corredera said, but university officials are emphasizing to students the importance of following security measures already in place, such as locked doors. Students have said they often prop open doors or let strangers into the buildings.

Fogel is assembling a team of outside experts to review police procedures, the president wrote in his e-mail. He will announce that team in December.

Fogel also has scheduled a public meeting on campus. Fogel and other members of university administration will be available to answer questions from 4 to 5 p.m. Dec. 2 in Memorial Lounge of the Waterman Building, Fogel wrote.

"This has been a most painful and difficult series of events," the president wrote, "but I am confident that we will learn from this and be better able to improve the environment at UVM for all members of our community."

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