Campus Task Force Criticizes Pepper Spraying of Protesters

Jonathan
Posting #3
Topic: Education
Title: Campus Task Force Criticizes Pepper Spraying of Protesters
Author: Jennifer Medina
Publication: NY Times
Date of Publication: April 11, 2012
Length: 562

The 190 page report released Wednesday. The task force concluded that "the pepper spraying incident that took place on Nov.18 2011, should and could have been prevented." Campus police had sued to prevent the report's release, saying that it amounted to an internal investigation. The university agreed to remove the names of most police officers from the report. The campus police chief, Annette Spicuzza, estimated that 80 percent of protesters camping in the campus quad were not students. But student affairs administrators, who had spent time talking with the protesters and said that most campers were students. The investigation found that the counterargument was ignored and administrators reiterated their concern for students. The task force concluded that the concern for outsiders threatening safety was "not supported by anyevidence." The investigation also found that even if the concern for safety was valid, it "would not justify ordering the immediate dismantling of the encampment" The task force was led by Cruz Reynoso, a law professor at UC Davis and a former California Supreme Court justice, and relied heavily on an investigation by Kroll, a private firm hired by the University of California.
I think that the police should not have sprayed the campers with pepper spray. Even though several police had claimed that the campers were not students, they should not have sprayed pepper. They should have just taken down the tents.