But police officers in schools can give parents peace of mind about their children’s safety, and they also can improve young people’s perceptions of law enforcement, which is particularly important given the current lack of public confidence in police, a few experts say.
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“We believe that Mr. Fields’ actions were justified and lawful throughout the circumstances of which he was confronted during this incident”, said Hayes in a statement. Federal and state investigations into his actions are underway. “When classrooms are disrupted by a student, then the teacher can not perform his/her job and other students can not learn”, he said, concluding that the event “should be used as a learning opportunity for us all to move forward in a positive way”.
An attorney representing the female student told the New York Daily News her arm was broken during the incident.
Rutherford said he doesn’t know if race played a factor. At that point, Lott said Wednesday, Fields did not use proper procedure.
Senior London Harrell was one of the students to participate in the walkout, and said she wanted her opinion to be heard by those who made the decision to fire Deputy Fields.
“They had no problems with the physical part”, Lott said.
Fields, until recently a sheriff’s deputy in Richland County, was let go on Wednesday after video of the assault was released. That is when Deputy Fields was called to the classroom. When she refused, the teacher called an administrator, who in turn called Fields. Spring Valley principal Jeff Temoney was present for Thursday’s meeting. “She was very disruptive, she was very disrespectful”, Lott said in a televised news conference.
It is believed that the 16-year-old girl hit the officer in self-defence, while he tried to remove her from the class.
Students at Spring Valley High School walked out of class earlier today in support of the police officer who violently arrested a student last week. Lott suspended Fields after the teen’s arrest was recorded by students. “Let’s head on back to class”.
Authorities had initially said the girl suffered no injuries other than a rug burn.
The cell phone video of a South Carolina police officer tossing a student across a classroom continues to send shockwaves across the country.
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Rutherford said his client may have struck fields as she reacted to being grabbed by the neck. “And based on that, that is a violation of our policy and approximately 20 minutes ago Officer Ben Fields was terminated from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department”. Anger spread quickly after videos of the white officer arresting the black teenager Monday appeared on the Internet. A criminal investigation is underway, but the probe generally takes more time.
