Caught On Tape: Oakland Officers Attack High School Student

ABC 7 News – by Laura Anthony

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — A disturbing video has surfaced out of the Oakland Unified School District.

In the video you will only see on ABC7 News, you can see school security officers dragging a student and then allegedly punching the student off camera.

It happened last year at Fremont High School, but now Oakland Unified Police Chief Jeff Godown is calling for a review of the incident.  

It happened on January 22, 2014. A 15-year-old freshman student was been called to the office at Fremont High for a meeting with an administrator.

As shown in an office security camera, the student stands there for a few moments before he’s approached by two school security officers, who apparently want him to move.

“In this case, I don’t see him doing anything but standing at the threshold of the door,” said Chief Godown. “The argument was that he was obstructing the people coming in and out of the door.”

Godown says a security officer comes up and talks to the student. Godown says the report states that the officer asked the student to leave the threshold of the door. “The officer then pushes the student into the office, comes around and puts his arm around his neck, putting him in a hold,” says Godown.

OUSD new police chief tells ABC7 he will review 5 yrs of cases after video reveals school officers grabbing student. pic.twitter.com/rQzRuoBS6k

— Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) March 7, 2015

The student appears to struggle with the officers but no punches are thrown until the threesome gets to the hallway.

“The student will throw a punch at the security officer and then you’ll see the security officer kind of… you can see the movement of him punching back,” said Chief Jeff Godown with the OUSD Police Department.

Godown is appalled by the officers’ use of force and the fact that the video sat in a file for 14 months.

Last May, a video surfaced showing another school security officer, Marchell Mitchell, punching a student in a wheelchair at Oakland High School.

Attorney Nabiel Ahmed represents Mitchell, who goes on trial next month for felony assault.

“Without the appropriate resources, a school security officer is forced to deal with a very difficult situation alone or with very limited help,” said Ahmed.

Godown says he will call for more training and has placed the two security officers on paid leave pending the outcome of an intensive investigation.

“You don’t put your hands on a kid unless you’ve got justification to do it. And based on what I see in this video, unless something comes up afterward, I don’t see justification for it.”

The student no longer attends Fremont High. The family is considering a civil lawsuit against the school district.

http://abc7news.com/news/oakland-officers-attack-student-caught-on-tape/548326/