SAN ANTONIO The San Antonio school district on Monday fired a school police officer seen on a viral video body slamming a 12-year-old girl, saying his use of force was unwarranted.
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On April 11, the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) announced its termination of Officer Joshua Kehm’s employment with the district.
In the hard to watch video Kehm is seen body-slamming Valdez, a sixth grader, face first into the concrete ground before arresting her while she’s down.
The girl lies motionless while the officer handcuffs her. She then gets up and is led away by the officer.
Nearly 31,000 police officers are at U.S. public schools, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and incidents of violence by officers in schools, especially against minorities, have raised concerns.
He did not have a listed phone number.
The event itself was, reportedly, the result of a group of girls including Janissa Valdez meeting after class to discuss comments another student had allegedly made about Janissa.
Martinez notes that Kehm’s report of the incident was “delayed” and “inconsistent with the video”, which is not the “general operating procedures of the police department”.
“It never should have gotten to this point”, Martinez said.
“The investigation doesn’t stop here”, Martinez said, referring to a review of how school administrators handled the situation.
The incident occurred at the Rhodes Middle School and continues to be under investigation. She kicks and flails before he flips her over his hip and throws her to the ground. The law enforcement portion of the investigation has been deferred to a “third part law enforcement agency”. “Once again a video captured by a student offers a sobering reminder that we can not entrust school police officers to intervene in school disciplinary matters that are best suited for trained educators and counselors”, said Judith Browne Dianis of the Advancement Project, a civil rights organization.
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Martinez also faulted school staff for not calling the parents of the two fighting students or taking other action before the incident. “I wasn’t going to do anything”.
