Local authorities and school officials respond to viral video of incident
JACKSON, Tenn.–“They did not violate the policy,” said Madison County Sheriff John Mehr.
Sheriff Mehr said in this video, the school resource officer took the appropriate actions with a student at Liberty Technology Magnet High School.
“Would you yourself use that amount of force? I would in this case,” Sheriff Mehr said.
Sheriff Mehr said there are many actions that took place leading up to the incident.
In the video, you can see two school resource officers on the bus, one of them talking to the student and asking her to get off the bus.
As the SRO, tries to cuff the student, the student kicks the SRO.
The student was then maced, picked up, and removed from the bus.
“This one escalated for different reasons over a period of time,” said Jackson-Madison County Schools Superintendent Ray Washington.
Washington said before the SROs were called onto the bus, an administrator tried talking to the student first.
“I’m not condoning what the officer did, I’m just saying that’s how it occurred,” Washington said.
“All of them attempted to resolve this in an easy way, but the student evidently didn’t want to do it that way,” Sheriff Mehr said.
Many people on social media had concerns in a second video, including if the mace and amount of force used on the student was necessary.
“When you see a police officer or any law enforcement person throw a young lady to the ground, or any student, to the ground you know questions marks are going to arise,” Washington said.
Sheriff Mehr said the officer handled the situation appropriately.
“They had to protect themselves. The officers are not there to be injured,” Mehr said.
“So yeah, if you’re out of behavior then how do we respond to that behavior in a manner that helps everybody,” asked Washington.
Sheriff Mehr said the student will face charges of assault on an officer.
Washington said he’s starting a dialogue with the sheriff’s office to find better ways to deal with situations like these in the future.
Sheriff Mehr also said the name of the SRO involved in the incident is not being released at this time. He added the officer will resume his regular duties at Liberty Technology Magnet High School.
