DETROIT – Detroit Public Schools says one of its police officer was justified in pepper spraying a student who was exhibiting "disruptive behavior" after being found without a valid elevator pass at Cass Tech High School.
Surveillance video of the incident was posted to YouTube on Wednesday, thought the incident happened Dec. 9.
The 5-minute video appears to be from a school security camera near the high school's book store. It shows someone in uniform confronting a female student, physically grabbing her, and then other officials standing nearby.
Here's the video:
The district on Friday released the redacted complaint and corresponding investigation. (You can view it below).
According to the report, the student was stopped for showing an expired elevator pass, and would not show an I.D. when asked by school officials. At one point, she put her headphones on to "tune" out the assistant principal.
The student became disruptive and "began to kick and attempted to bite" a school officer, the report said. "She was warned that if she continued her aggressive behavior, she would be pepper sprayed."
The student was given one "burst" of pepper spray, the report said.
Official statement from Detroit Public Schools
"The Detroit Public Schools Police Department conducted a thorough investigation beginning on December 12, 2015 in response to a complaint filed surrounding the actions in the video. Judge Rhodes has reviewed the video, documentation involved in this investigation and is satisfied that this matter was appropriately addressed by the Detroit Public Schools Police Department.
Consistent with Judge Rhodes’ commitment to transparency, the District is releasing the report filed by the Detroit Public Schools Police Department regarding the incident in question. In adherence to the FERPA law, names of students have been redacted.
According to the DPS Police Department’s final report, it was deemed that the officer followed proper procedures as outlined in the Force Continuum Policy contained in the DPS Police Officer Manual. In addition, the report outlines that several witnesses were interviewed, statements were consistent and the conclusions were justified by the evidence."
Redacted DPS Police Department Citizen Complaint Investigation
