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Sheriff fires deputy for tossing teen across classroom

Hatuey

Hatuey

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Sheriff fires deputy for tossing teen across classroom - Yahoo News

A deputy who flipped a disruptive student out of her desk and tossed her across her math class floor was fired on Wednesday. The sheriff called his actions "unacceptable," and said videos recorded by her classmates show the girl posed no danger to anyone.

"What he should not have done is throw the student," Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. "Police officers make mistakes too. They're human and they need to be held accountable, and that's what we've done with Deputy Ben Fields."
Civil rights groups immediately praised the firing of Fields, a veteran school resource officer and football coach at Spring Valley High School. Calls for swift action rose almost immediately after the videos of Monday's arrest appeared on the Internet, and the sheriff suspended the deputy without pay before firing him altogether.
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Well, that settles that. The girl should have been removed, the officer used an incorrect amount of force to remove her. Partial win-win for everyone involved.
 
It needed to happen, and now we need charges filed. Now that I have seen enough instances of the video and heard the other students talk about this it seems reasonable to file charges and let this man have his day in court to defend himself. That is how this is supposed to work anyway.
 
Good news. A child abusing thug like that doesn't deserve to wear a badge.
 
Unless the officer, similar to the officer in Ferguson, just decides to walk away, I'm guessing this officer will be reinstated after his union grieves the firing and that process works its way to conclusion.
 
The only reason the cop was there in the first place are the policies of the school to not put their hands on the students.

That and the attitude of today's students are what need to change.
 
He definitely deserved to be fired. Anyone who would do something like that to a young girl should not be anywhere near a school or a police department.
 
Hatuey said:
Sheriff fires deputy for tossing teen across classroom - Yahoo News



Well, that settles that.[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR] The girl should have been removed, the officer used an incorrect amount of force to remove her. Partial win-win for everyone involved.
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but what a sad day for America:
a police officer gets to lose his job over failing to handle a extremely difficult situation! And a spoiled teenager gets to play the heroe victim for having successfully disrupted society and having resisted arrest!
What an example for all the teenagers who are now expecting eagerly their next encounter with a police officer!
I can almost hear it from here:
-" Dude you want to arrest me?, well get lost because should you insist, I will have you fired in short order"
 
WCH said:
The only reason the cop was there in the first place are the policies of the school to not put their hands on the students.

That and the attitude of today's students are what need to change.
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I doubt that any "hands-off" policy includes calling in a violent thug to beat the crap out of a teen girl instead.
 
Good, that cop is a freaking thug. So tough, throwing a 15 year old girl.

She wasn't even under arrest. Keep that mouthbreather out of a uniform.
 
beefheart said:
Good, that cop is a freaking thug. So tough, throwing a 15 year old girl.

She wasn't even under arrest. Keep that mouthbreather out of a uniform.
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She was 16 and yes she was being arrested.
 
CanadaJohn said:
Unless the officer, similar to the officer in Ferguson, just decides to walk away, I'm guessing this officer will be reinstated after his union grieves the firing and that process works its way to conclusion.
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I understand what you are saying, just would offer that in this case that might make matters worse.
 
In watching the video, it does seem the officer's actions are rather excessive...but what exactly was the alternative? How do you remove an unwilling person from their desk? Get more officers there and further disrupt the learning environment?

It's a bad situation where there was no good answers, but it was all caused by a disruptive student. While I'm against police misconduct as much as anyone, I'm also of the mindset that at some point we need to also condemn those who create the situation in the first place.
 
WCH said:
The only reason the cop was there in the first place are the policies of the school to not put their hands on the students.

That and the attitude of today's students are what need to change.
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I still think a policy like we have in the UK that the teacher closes the class down and walks away (sending students off) is best if you have a disruptive student who absolutely will not leave a class but continues disrupting. School authorities then have the disruptive student banned from school and the kid goes to special behavioural classes in a special school for similar such kids.

The police officer was in a no-win situation and that confrontation should never have had to happen.
 
beefheart said:
So tough, throwing a 15 year old girl.
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That's the point, you put some distance between her and any object that she could hold on in order to to harm herself or the police officer!
Police work does not do aesthetics, on the contrary it focuses on safety first and efficiency!
It might hurt your sorry eyes, but hey in the end nobody got injured in the process! Well she might have been injured in her self-esteem, this is why she will eagerly sue the city for having been allegedly molested by a police officer!
This is the very example where you can watch society taking a very wrong turn: when the perps get to play the heroe victim and have police officers fired!
 
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Infinite Chaos said:
I still think a policy like we have in the UK that the teacher closes the class down and walks away (sending students off) is best if you have a disruptive student who absolutely will not leave a class but continues disrupting. School authorities then have the disruptive student banned from school and the kid goes to special behavioural classes in a special school for similar such kids.

The police officer was in a no-win situation and that confrontation should never have had to happen.
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Yes, he could have handled it differently.

I wouldn't be surprised if all future encounters like these, the other student and adults are asked to leave the room so they won't be filming the event.
 
OrphanSlug said:
I understand what you are saying, just would offer that in this case that might make matters worse.
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It might, but it will happen fairly quietly and he'll be reassigned.

Personally, I don't agree with his being fired for this incident unless there are mitigating factors and/or this is a reflection of a cumulative history of issues. I'll also bet the school is not happy about losing him as their officer and football coach and the girl at the center of this isn't going to have an easy time back in school if she isn't expelled.
 
t4pi0k4 said:
but what a sad day for America:
a police officer gets to lose his job over failing to handle a extremely difficult situation! And a spoiled teenager gets to play the heroe victim for having successfully disrupted society and having resisted arrest!
What an example for all the teenagers who are now expecting eagerly their next encounter with a police officer!
I can almost hear it from here:
-" Dude you want to arrest me?, well get lost because should you insist, I will have you fired in short order"
Click to expand...

I don't know what you're trying to say. Do as we say or get your ass kicked? Doesn't seem autocratic.
 
CanadaJohn said:
It might, but it will happen fairly quietly and he'll be reassigned.

Personally, I don't agree with his being fired for this incident unless there are mitigating factors and/or this is a reflection of a cumulative history of issues. I'll also bet the school is not happy about losing him as their officer and football coach and the girl at the center of this isn't going to have an easy time back in school if she isn't expelled.
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Now that you mention it, there is something from his background. A complaint of some sort that was either dismissed, or otherwise went his way. Let me see if I can find it.
 
CanadaJohn said:
It might, but it will happen fairly quietly and he'll be reassigned.

Personally, I don't agree with his being fired for this incident unless there are mitigating factors and/or this is a reflection of a cumulative history of issues. I'll also bet the school is not happy about losing him as their officer and football coach and the girl at the center of this isn't going to have an easy time back in school if she isn't expelled.
Click to expand...

OrphanSlug said:
Now that you mention it, there is something from his background. A complaint of some sort that was either dismissed, or otherwise went his way. Let me see if I can find it.
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Ok, the below CNN article reports...

"The officer was a subject of two lawsuits in the past decade.

In the first case, Fields was accused of excessive force and battery in a 2007 lawsuit. A jury ruled in favor of the officer.

The second case is scheduled to go to trial in January. Fields is one of several defendants listed in a suit filed by a student against the school district over his expulsion."

(I did not see the actual details or the court filings for either one.)

Spring Valley High School officer suspended - CNN.com

Spring Valley High School officer Ben Fields' career marked with lawsuits, award - CNN.com
 
t4pi0k4 said:
but what a sad day for America:
a police officer gets to lose his job over failing to handle a extremely difficult situation! And a spoiled teenager gets to play the heroe victim for having successfully disrupted society and having resisted arrest!
What an example for all the teenagers who are now expecting eagerly their next encounter with a police officer!
I can almost hear it from here:
-" Dude you want to arrest me?, well get lost because should you insist, I will have you fired in short order"
Click to expand...

What exactly was she being arrested for? Prior to putting his hands on the girl, did the officer in fact state she was being arrested?
 
pbrauer said:
if the police can't do any better than this guy, they are in trouble.
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Hatuey said:
I don't know what you're trying to say. Do as we say or get your ass kicked? Doesn't seem autocratic.
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How would you have done it? How would you have removed this student (who refused to move) from the classroom to ensure a quality learning environment?
 
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