A security video just released this week is shocking some parents at Cass Tech High. The poster says the video is evidence of police brutality against kids.
Everyone agrees with one thing: this started when a student at Cass Tech High School broke a rule. She used an elevator in the school with an expired elevator pass.
What everyone disagrees with is how it escalated until she ended up in the hospital.
The surveillance video of what happened in a hall at Cass Tech High School was recorded in December. The school district released a 68 page report in response to this video.
When you look at the video and the report, it is clear the officer demanded the student hand over her phone. She did not comply.
“She told me he said, 'I am going to take that phone from you.' She said, ‘Why? I haven’t done anything.' He reached for her phone and she pulled her phone away and he couldn’t get it,” said Venus Heard, the student’s mom.
She says her daughter may have broken the rules when she used the elevator and refused to hand over her phone.
“Just write her up for being insubordinate,” said Venus.
But much more happened.
The officer can be seen knocking the phone out of her daughter's hands, then struggling with her. She is pushed into a corner.
Some witnesses say as she cowers in the corner, she tried to bite the officer. Others report not seeing that. The student denies it. She says she was afraid and didn’t want to go with the officer.
The officer then pepper sprayed her.
“At what point was someone going to act like an adult?” asked Venus. “Nobody acted or behaved as an adult should have acted. Is this how you treat your children at home? Would you pepper spray your child? Would you slam them into the wall?”
The student, who has asthma, was taken to the hospital - listed in temporary serious condition. Never in trouble before, she was charged criminally and suspended for 30 days for both insubordination and assaulting the officer.
Once in court, her mom says the charges were dropped.
“My daughter was suspended 30 days for something she didn’t do,” said Venus. “This is an extreme measure taken unnecessarily. I want to know why.”
The student’s mom says the officer should be fired. The district says it investigated what happened and he broke no school policies.
"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,” said Chrystal Wilson, DPS Press Secretary.
