Report and Legislators Condemn UC Davis Police for Pepper Spraying Peaceful Students

A task force that investigated the use of pepper spray on peaceful demonstrators on the UC Davis campus on November 18, 2011 concluded there was “no reason to use pepper spray” on the students, the use of the pepper spray “objectively unreasonable” and its use was unauthorized by campus policy.


State lawmakers, including California Assembly Speaker John Perez, are calling for greater oversight of campus police departments after investigators sharply criticized the University of California, Davis administrators and officers for pepper-spraying demonstrators. This police action drew widespread criticism after a video went viral.

In a report released yesterday, April 11, 2012, the task force concluded "The pepper-spraying incident that took place on Nov. 18, 2011, should and could have been prevented".

The chemical crackdown prompted widespread condemnation, campus protests and calls for the resignation of Chancellor Linda Katehi after videos shot by witnesses were widely circulated online. Images of an officer casually spraying orange pepper-spray in the faces of nonviolent protesters became a rallying point for the Occupy Wall Street movement

Assembly-Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles), who sits on the UC Board of Regents, said in a statement that the report ‘shows the systemic and administrative problems that led up to an outrageous and excessive use of force against peaceful student demonstrators.’

Perez said he would work with the UC board and state Legislature to make sure UC Davis officials are held accountable in addressing the report's ‘very troubling revelations.’

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, a Democrat whose district includes UC Berkeley, also said she would pursue legislation based on the report's recommendations to improve the training, organization and operation of campus police departments.

The task force blamed the incident on poor planning, communication and decision-making at all levels of the school administration, from Katehi to Police Chief Annette Spicuzza to Lt. John Pike, the main officer seen in the online videos.

Contrary to the assertions by Lt John Pike and other officers where they said they needed to use pepper-spray to break through a "hostile crowd", the investigators determined the crowd was not hostile as the police were able to step over the seated protesters and walk through the throng of onlookers without interference.

“There was really no reason, we conclude, to have used the pepper spray," Cruz Reynoso, a retired California Supreme Court justice who chaired the task force said at a campus forum where the panel presented its findings and recommendations.”

While the report was able to be released many months ago, the union representing the police officers held up its disclosure by filing a motion in court and insisting the names of the police officers be redacted (i.e. deleted) from the official report released to the public.

The names of the Lt. John Pike and captain of the department were already known from previous reports. However, the other police officers wanted anonymity from their actions.

Davis, being a small town, is a place where everyone knows everyone else including the names of police officers. Apparently Pike’s home address had been previously revealed and more than likely he has been condemned by the Davis community for his actions.

By the way, the same thing happens in Berkeley as members of the community know who the police are by name particularly the “thumpers” who love to beat up on Berkeley residents.

Assembly Speaker John Perez or another high-ranking member of the state legislature came to visit UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau after the November 9, 2011 Occupy protest on the Berkeley campus. At that time the legislators were VERY unhappy with what happened on the Berkeley campus. Thereafter when the incident happened on the Davis campus 9 days later, Assembly Speaker John Perez was fit to be tied.

The legislators invited Birgeneau to Sacramento and forced him to testify in committee. This tongue-lashing by elected state officials was part of the reason, along with other criticism from student organizations such as BAMN and hundreds of people and parents calling Birgeneau and the UC Berkeley campus police complaining about how campus police treated students, that led to Birgeneau’s resignation as the Chancellor of the University at Berkeley.

While Birgeneau initially kept insisting he had no idea Berkeley campus police and other law enforcement agencies were beating up Berkeley students on November 9, 2012 because he was out of town, several follow-up investigations revealed Birgeneau knew exactly what was going on as he was communicating with University officials by phone during the violent confrontation by the police with peaceful Berkeley student protesters.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ca-university-slammed-pepper-spraying-students-16122297