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Video Shows Texas School Officer Body-Slamming 12-Year-Old Student Video Shows Texas School Officer Body-Slamming 12-Year-Old Girl
(about 4 hours later)
A cellphone video showing a San Antonio middle school police officer slamming a 12-year-old girl face first to the sidewalk last month has set off an investigation, and the officer has been placed on leave, an official said Thursday. The San Antonio school district is investigating an encounter captured on a cellphone video that showed a school police officer slamming a 12-year-old girl face first to the sidewalk.
The video, which was posted on Ghost-O, a local news blog, on Tuesday, was sent to school district administrators later the same day by the district’s Police Department, said Leslie Price, a spokeswoman for the school district. The video, apparently shot by a student and posted online Tuesday by Ghost-O, a local news blog, has ricocheted across social media and has prompted the district to start an inquiry and put the officer, identified as Joshua Kehm, on paid administrative leave.
The officer, Joshua Kehm, was put on leave Wednesday morning, Ms. Price said. “The video is very disturbing and we immediately launched a formal investigation, which is being conducted by both district police and administration,” Leslie Price, a spokeswoman for the school district, said in an email.
“The video is very disturbing, and we immediately launched a formal investigation, which is being conducted by both district police and administration,” Ms. Price said in an email. She said later that investigators were interviewing witnesses. “We are not going to tolerate any excessive force,” she said.
The video, about 30 seconds long, shows the uniformed officer lifting the girl into the air from behind. At least one student in a group surrounding them can be heard telling the girl to “chill.” The video was sent to school administrators by the district’s Police Department on the day it was posted.
As the girl struggles, the officer whirls around and then slams her down onto a brick sidewalk. One student exclaims, “Janissa, are you O.K.?” Raul Valdez III, the father of Janissa Valdez, the student in the video, said she had been bullied in school and thought she was defending herself from another student. She has been suspended for three days.
The officer pins her hands behind her back as she lies motionless, and he then hauls her to her feet. The video, about 30 seconds long, shows Officer Kehm lifting Janissa from behind. At least one student in a group surrounding them can be heard telling the girl to “chill.”
The episode occurred on the grounds of Rhodes Middle School on March 29, Raul Valdez III, the father of the student, Janissa Valdez, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. He said that Janissa, who is in the sixth grade, had been bullied since the beginning of the school year by a group of students and that school administrators had done nothing to help, even though the family had complained several times. As Janissa struggles, Officer Kehm whirls around and slams her to a brick sidewalk. One student exclaims, “Janissa, are you O.K.?”
The officer pins her hands behind her back as she lies motionless, and he then lifts her to her feet and takes her away.
The episode occurred at Rhodes Middle School on March 29. Mr. Valdez said that Janissa, who is in the sixth grade, had been bullied since the beginning of the school year by a group of students and that administrators had done nothing to help, even though the family had complained several times.
“We couldn’t get any help from the principal and the counselor, and this school district has zero tolerance on bullying,” he said. “She tried to ignore it, but it kept going on and she decided to defend herself.”“We couldn’t get any help from the principal and the counselor, and this school district has zero tolerance on bullying,” he said. “She tried to ignore it, but it kept going on and she decided to defend herself.”
He said his daughter “got jumped by one girl” recently and had been suspended. Ms. Price said she did not have immediate information about any history of bullying.
Ms. Price did not respond immediately to requests for comment about the family’s reports of bullying. Mr. Valdez said his daughter “got jumped by one girl” recently and had been suspended. Then, in the episode recorded on video, Mr. Valdez said, Janissa told him that the “bully’s friend” had confronted her and that they were surrounded by other students expecting a fight.
In the episode last week, Mr. Valdez said, Janissa told him that the “bully’s friend” had confronted her, and that they were surrounded by other students expecting to see a fight. He said that Janissa told him that when the officer “grabbed her” from behind, she thought it was a student trying to attack her.
Janissa said that when the officer “ grabbed her” from behind, she thought it was a student and tried to defend herself, he said. The girl’s mother, Gloria Valdez, was in a parking lot waiting to pick her up when she saw the commotion, Mr. Valdez said. The officer told Janissa’s mother that “he did what he had to do because he said my daughter was trying to kick him in the groin area,” he added. “He told my wife, ‘You know I can press charges on your daughter.’”
The girl’s mother, Gloria Valdez, was in the parking lot waiting to pick her up when she saw the commotion and went to see if Janissa was involved, Mr. Valdez said. The officer told Janissa’s mother that “he did what he had to do because he said my daughter was trying to kick him in the groin area,” he added. “He told my wife, ‘You know I can press charges on your daughter.’ ” An officer who answered the telephone at the school district Police Department referred calls to Ms. Price, who said she was unable to provide further details about the investigation. She said she did not know if Officer Kehm, who had been with the district since February 2015, had a record of disciplinary issues. Officer Kehm did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment.
Ms. Valdez took Janissa to the hospital for X-rays, and she has a bump above the eyebrow and a headache, he said. Janissa was taken to a hospital for X-rays, but she was not admitted for treatment, Mr. Valdez said, adding that she was bruised and was having severe headaches.
Janissa was suspended for three days, but has not returned to school. “We are afraid to take her back to school,” Mr. Valdez said. “We overheard that students are saying they want to beat her up for this.”
“We are afraid to take her back,” Mr. Valdez said. “We overheard that students are saying they want to beat her up for this.” The family has been unable to enroll her elsewhere, he said.
The family tried to enroll her somewhere else but was told other schools were full, he said. The San Antonio police said they would not write a report on the confrontation because it was in the jurisdiction of the school law enforcement authorities, he said.
The episode is the latest to draw attention to a debate over the proliferation and proper role of the police in schools, especially as disciplinary cases are increasingly recorded on students’ cellphones.The episode is the latest to draw attention to a debate over the proliferation and proper role of the police in schools, especially as disciplinary cases are increasingly recorded on students’ cellphones.
In October, a video showed a South Carolina deputy sheriff assigned to a high school grabbing a 16-year-old student, tipping her backward in her seat, slamming her to the floor and dragging her to the front of the class. The student had defied a teacher’s instruction to stop using her phone and had refused orders to stand up and leave the classroom, officials said.In October, a video showed a South Carolina deputy sheriff assigned to a high school grabbing a 16-year-old student, tipping her backward in her seat, slamming her to the floor and dragging her to the front of the class. The student had defied a teacher’s instruction to stop using her phone and had refused orders to stand up and leave the classroom, officials said.
Officer Kehm had been employed with the district since February 2015, Ms. Price said in the email, but she said she did not know if he had a record of previous disciplinary issues. And in March, two school police officers in Baltimore were charged in connection with a cellphone video that showed one of them slapping and kicking a teenage student while the other officer looked on.