In a cellphone video shot by a student, a school police officer can be seen slapping and kicking a young man while another officer stands by.
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“As a parent of a Baltimore city school student, I was appalled by what I saw”, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said of the video.
Baltimore is the only Maryland city whose school district has its own police force, separate from municipal police.
Baltimore state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Rochelle Ritchie said prosecutors are working closely with the city’s police department and the school police to investigate the incident.
“Anytime there is a law enforcement officer with that level of authority that seems to be abusing that authority, it impacts all of us across the country”, she said.
The officer and the school police chief have been placed on leave pending a criminal investigation by Baltimore city police. He said the youth was not a student at REACH, but the young man’s lawyer, Lauren Geisser, said he is a 10th-grader listed on the school’s enrollment roster.
“As students, we come to school to learn, and all people in schools, whether teachers, administrators, or yes, police officers, should be committed to making that happen in an effective and safe manner”, the group said in a statement released Wednesday, adding that “there are no more excuses for inaction, subpar training and unaccountability”. The attorney claims her client was treated at a local hospital for face and rib injuries following the attack.
Baltimore police said in a statement that their Special Investigation Response Team will serve as the primary investigators. “The young man was not a student at the school”. “We’re taking this very seriously”. “With respect to refusing to leave the school, the student didn’t want to leave the school where he had a right to attend”.
“I am completely appalled and disappointed by what is depicted in the video”, Thornton told ABC News in a statement today.
Michael Davey, attorney for the officer who struck the young man, said his client was responding to a call of an intruder on school grounds.
“Acting Chief Hamm contacted me on Wednesday evening and requested our assistance in this investigation”, Baltimore Police Department Commissioner Kevin Davis said.
Davey said the online video captures only a few seconds of an encounter that played out over several minutes. Jackson said the video would not be released immediately because it is part of the investigation. Neither the officers nor the victim have been publicly identified. “He was injured and his family is traumatized by what happened”, she said. Both were on foot patrol between schools and were armed at the time of the incident, he said.
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Some 43% of all USA public schools – including 63% of middle and 64% of high schools – had school resource officers on their grounds during the 2013-2014 school year, the National Center for Education Statistics noted in May.
