UC Davis Pepper Spray Investigation Report Released, Campus Police Condemned For Their Actions

The task force report on the controversial pepper-spraying of student protesters at the University of California, Davis concluded the campus police and administration made "critically flawed" decisions.

The report, released Wednesday, said Lt. John Pike's decision to use pepper spray on seated protesters was "not authorized by policy." They also said there were multiple instances of other campus police officers, who were unnamed in the report, that were able to calmly walk arrestees through the crowd to a patrol car without the use of force.

The 190-page report was the result of a task force put in place to investigate the pepper-spraying of seated protesters at UC Davis on Nov. 18, 2011. UC President Mark Yudof and UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi called for the task force and appointed Cruz Reynoso, the chair of the UC Davis School of Law, to lead it. Reynoso is also a former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court.

"There is little factual basis supporting Lt. Pike’s belief that he was trapped by the protesters or that his officers were prevented from leaving the Quad," the report stated. "Further, there is little evidence that any protesters attempted to use violence against the police."

They added that the administration, including Katehi, "share responsibility for many of the decisions discussed and criticized in this report."

The task force also revealed that the type of pepper spray used was not an "authorized weapon of use" by UCPD.

In addition, the report concluded a number of errors on the part of the UCPD and the administration, including:

- A Failure to Investigate Whether or Not “Non-Affiliates” in the UC Davis Occupy Encampment Were Present

- The Administration Decided to Deploy Police to Remove the Tents on Nov. 18 before Considering Other Reasonable Alternatives

- The Scope of the Police Operation to Remove the Tents Was Ineffectively Communicated, Not Clearly Understood by Key Decision-Makers, and, Accordingly, Could Not Be Adequately Evaluated as to Its Costs and Consequences

- There Were No Clear Lines Delineating the Responsibility for Decision-Making between Civilian Administrators and Police

- There Was Confusion as to the Legal Basis for the Police Operation

The UC Davis campus police officers' union tried to halt the public disclosure of the report, citing privacy concerns. A judge ordered that some names could be withheld, but the report should be released to the public.

Officials plan to discuss their findings in the report Wednesday afternoon during a town hall event at UC Davis.

This is a developing story, more to come.

Read the whole report here.

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Comments

[modurhead]

06:40 AM on 09/20/2012

a bully like that cop doesnt need to be a cop

[modurhead]

06:34 AM on 09/20/2012

protester need to be allowed to assemble until there is no other option thats how i interpert the constitution,but if everyone would assemble now and go to davis ca at the same time i bet they would do whatever we wanted,as long as we outnumbered them,emergency town meeting,but they will have to have swat shoot some people first,or when they spray you for somthing you deserve and you cant believe he got away with it,wait eventually they will get to you or somthing you care about

[mira chancleta]

08:39 AM on 04/14/2012

I would LOVE to see the profile of her retirement package for a "job well-done".

Oh, wait, wait...I see the gilded hot air balloon being inflated in her "Reserved for Chancellor" parking space.

We can be sure it is nothing less than 7 figures and ornamented with every conceivable perk from dog walkers in Paris and 24-hour Mexican indian maids in her future Claremont, CA Unitarian luxury retirement condo...you just can't make this stuff up.

She and the UC masters are a total disgrace.

[Linda Casper]

04:58 PM on 04/13/2012

5 months was a long time to wait and after reading the 169 pages in the 2 reports many questions remain:

How much of the UC budget is spent on UC police?

How much did they spend on buying riot gear?

How much did they spend on the unauthorized pepper spray?

How did they purchase unauthorized weapons (pepper srpay)?

How much money was spent having police from other campuses such as UC Santa Cruz travel to Davis to help UC Davis police remove tents?

How is the University of California going to keep the public informed regarding progress towards implementation of the report recommendations?

I encourage everyone to follow this story to help ensure that peaceful student protesters are never again assaulted by campus police.

[Lynda Le]

11:50 AM on 04/13/2012

These students were protesting the fee hike. When I was in college, I paid over $10,000 a year. Tuition is close to $15,000 a year for these students now. Should they peacefully protest because administrators keep raising tuition while increasing their own pay?? Hell yes! People quickly assume that these students are fighting for some radical cause just because they’re protesting. That’s completely ignorant. They’re fighting for their right for an affordable public education. I’m sure those commenters who are quick to call for some kind of violent end to the sprayed students won’t be so quick to do so when they’re own children tell them how much it costs them to attend a university.

[KarlMarx]

02:42 AM on 04/13/2012

Now that the investigation has been released what happens now? What happens to John Pike? Does he just get to go back to work. He was suspended with pay. There need to be a grand jury investigation to bring criminal charges against Pike It was obvious that his use of pepper spray was without hesitation. He needs to be charged. He needs to be fired and there needs to be accountability.

[adamsmith2012]

07:51 PM on 04/12/2012

UCD admin have learned their lesson about the bad PR surrounding visible violence against protesters, so now instead they're using invisible violence in the form of trumped-up charges against many of the same students who are suing the university over the pepper-spraying. Drop all charges on the Davis Dozen!

[teatwerp]

07:06 PM on 04/12/2012

has that chancellor been fired yet or at least suspended without pay?

[KarlMarx]

02:43 AM on 04/13/2012

No, and Pike and the Police Chief were suspended with pay during the investigation

[TaiJi2]

03:34 PM on 04/12/2012

Unauthorized use of unauthorized weapon. Sounds like the crime of Assault Under the Color of Authority. How many counts should Pike be indicted on?

[Moravecglobal]

03:22 PM on 04/12/2012

UC Berkeley Provost Breslauer,Chancellor Birgeneau use their campus police to apply baton jabs on students protesting doubling of tuition.
With the recommendations of UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau, Provost George Breslauer allowed campus police to use excessive force - rammed baton jabs - on students protesting Birgeneau‘s doubling of instate tuition. Clean sweep: Birgeneau resigned; fire Breslauer. Your opinion; email UC Board of Regents [e-mail]

[renegade500]

03:06 PM on 04/12/2012

This is just the first step. Next there needs to be accountability for actions. It's not enough to say I messed up. This action was unconscionable. When parents send their children to college, they expect that the police forces on those campuses will be there to protect these students, not trample on their civil rights and act as aggressors. Kent State wasn't so long ago that we should have forgotten.

[adamsmith2012]

07:52 PM on 04/12/2012

Instead of accountability, they've just changed tactics... www.davisdozen.org

[DamOTclese]

02:53 PM on 04/12/2012

And yet none of the fascist pig Christian dung piles that committed these acts of treason against our country are ever going to be stood against the wall to pay for their crimes. No, the theofascist corporate Oligarchy merely "condemns" their hired, armed thugs.

[TaiJi2]

03:29 PM on 04/12/2012

Dude, get a grip!

[mothergrace]

01:36 PM on 04/12/2012

So is anyone actually going to be fired? fined? censured?

At least put it in their permanent record.

We will see how it goes, but I have seen too little consequences for behavior like this too often.

And why were the names of police officers removed? Can't people easily find out who was on duty that day somewhere else?

[Randy Palermo]

01:32 PM on 04/12/2012

What a bunch of pansys --a little pepper spay -WWWWAAAAAAAAA Stop crying lololo

[TaiJi2]

03:30 PM on 04/12/2012

Sure, what's a little unauthorized use of unauthorized weapons between citizens, right?

[vobox3343]

01:31 PM on 04/12/2012

Put these criminals with the others. that is, after the protesters sue the pants off of them. Then raise the taxes on all of those who lend their support to such despicable behavior.