Katehi: Campus police were told not to use force against students

[warrior1]

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/23/4074993/katehi-campus-police-were-told.html

snip

She also said she never would have approved the use of full-scale riot gear by officers sent in to remove the students and that Police Chief Annette Spicuzza was part of an emergency conference call before the incident.

"We told her that it has to be peaceful, that anything else would not be acceptable," Katehi said one day after Spicuzza was placed on administrative leave along with two officers who used the pepper spray.

Spicuzza did not respond to a message left at her home Tuesday, but she has previously said the officers used the pepper spray because they were being cut off from other police by the students. Video clips that have surfaced so far do not show that happening.

Katehi said Spicuzza indicated Saturday that it was Lt. John Pike who decided to use the pepper spray.




snip

[mmonk]

1. Because we all know police just took it upon themselves for their actions.

Do I need a sarcasm tag?

[roguevalley]

16. oh. look at the lady spin ...

[DCKit]

2. Johnny Law might claim that pepper spray doesn't constitute "use of force".

After all, it's not as if he expended any physical effort on it.

[FarCenter]

3. Orders must be given in terms that cannot be misunderstood.

It may well be that the officers interpreted "force" in the sense of physical force, and therefore used pepper spray instead of physically grappling with and carrying away the protesters.

There are many examples of military engagements where a commander gave orders that were either inadvertently or willfully misinterpreted by subordinates with dire results.

So officers are taught to write orders clearly and specifically so that they cannot be misunderstood and so that scope for initiative and improvisation is clearly defined. This is something that anyone who writes in a business context should also keep in mind. Literary and poetic devices are counterproductive.

[yardwork]

4. Lt. Pike has been in trouble before. He cost UC-Davis a lawsuit because he used racist anti-gay slur

But an alleged anti-gay slur by Pike also figured in a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit a former police officer filed against the department, which ended in a $240,000 settlement in 2008. Officer Calvin Chang's 2003 discrimination complaint against the university's police chief and the UC Board of Regents alleged he was systematically marginalized as the result of anti-gay and racist attitudes on the force, and he specifically claimed Pike described him using a profane anti-gay epithet.

http://www.wral.com/business/story/10416600/

The UC Davis campus had a loose cannon employed on its police force. They should not be surprised that the officer has caused trouble again.

[peace frog]

9. Fire his ass. NOW. TODAY.

[indepat]

14. Which raises the question as to why he has not been fired and wasn't , in fact,

fired over the incident culminating in the earlier lawsuit. :shrug: :patriot:

[warrior1]

10. I know, see...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2364737

[cloudbase]

5. She was pretty quick

to initially defend the police. She's doing the CYA dance.

[TBF]

7. CYA dance - yes, I completely agree. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. The cops will say pepper spray is not force.

Just wait for it.

[TeeYiYi]

8. It's not. It's a condiment, doncha know? ...nt

TYY :P

[era veteran]

11. Every time a cop calls a billy club a baton a fairy dies

Pepper spray is a weapon as well. Can cause an asthma attack, damage the eyes and raises blood pressure.
Can cause some of us to get itchy for battle too.

[coalition_unwilling]

12. Katehi pulled a Henry II - "Will no one rid me of those

damned students?"

What a friggin' disgrace.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Katehi and Spicuzza lied and lied and lied

Now they lie some more. Pike has a long record as a hater, the University has retained him in spite of his bigotry. They are all guilty. They all have to go. Kathei is a liar, from the start she lied. The fact that she has not already stepped down proves she cares more for herself than for UC Davis.

[qb]

15. Yeah... I might believe it if Spicuzza corroborates it. Then most of the blame is on Spicuzza,

Pike & the other asshole who was pepper-spraying the students.
Katehi is still responsible for what happened. She gets paid megabucks to behave responsibly and accept responsibility when her actions result in a fiasco.

[RandiFan1290]

17. A good cop

would have tried to stop these guys.

[Viking12]

18. Food products are not force...

TM of Fox News