Report: CA pepper-spray incident was avoidable

UC Davis released a report Wednesday on use of pepper spray by campus police after a video from Nov. 18, 2011 shows officers dousing students during an Occupy protest sparked outrage. / CBS

Updated 4:07 p.m. ET

(AP) SAN FRANCISCO - A University of California task force said Wednesday that UC Davis police should not have used pepper-spray on seated students in an incident that prompted national outrage and calls for the chancellor's resignation after online videos of the confrontation went viral.

That conclusion was contained in a report released on the Nov. 18 crackdown on students who had set up an Occupy Wall Street camp on campus.

The task force said the spraying occurred due to breakdowns in the campus chain of command and communications.

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The university published the document online a day after a judge approved its publication without the names of most officers involved in the clash.

Task force members were scheduled to present the report later in the day at UC Davis.

The 13-member task force was created to investigate the notorious incident, when officers shot pepper spray on the heads of protesters.

The report was originally planned for release on March 6, but the campus police officers' union sued to keep the document under wraps. It claimed the report contained confidential personnel records that should not be publicly released under state law.

Alameda County Judge Evelio Grillo ruled last month that the university could release the entire report but must redact the names of all officers except Lt. John Pike and Chief Annette Spicuzza, whose identities became widely known during media coverage of the incident.

In February, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against school administrators on behalf of a group of pepper-sprayed students seeking unspecified damages and campus policies to prevent similar responses to non-violent protests.

[Ceres6]

It is clear the police officer that used the pepper spray against the students mas not only mentally deficient, he wa also a coward.

[pengpeiyi]

This story does need some more context to it. I'm not saying that spraying was the right thing to do, but if you watch the full video from the incident the demonstrators had surrounded the officers and were refusing to let them leave. The police said several times what they would do. All in the situation were well informed throughout the whole process of the other side's intentions.

[werntrouble]

I still can't believe the chief of campus police didn't get fired over this. Clearly, someone or a group is at fault here, so it's not enough to say "the police shouldn't have used pepper spray". What the heck does that mean? Someone here is culpable for instigating undue harm to these students. That someone should be tried in a court of law.

[lami987]

Those clueless cops must be put on trial and fired if found guilty.

[notyrants]

That police officer should be locked up for the rest of his useless sociopath existence. I don't pay taxes for pieces of dung like that.

[Ourdoc1]

Now with this report go back and fire every idiot who was involved, and put the bosses in prison.

[MFIFFICK]

And it took almost FIVE MONTHS to come to this conclusion? It looks like UC Davis was hoping this police abuse of law abiding citizens was going to be forgotten, or swept under the rug. Police officers have to remember that they are not the U.S. Army. They are supposed to serve and protect the citizens, not brutalize them. There are way too many cops who are sociopaths with guns.

[roadracer9x]

It took 5 months because a judge blocked the release of the report. Go read the story.

[credibility2]

Those demonstrating, had they been obedient and dispersed as they were asked were the ones that brought the pepper spraying about. The demonstrators were not lawfully congregating. They were disobeying the law. They got what they deserved.

[roadracer9x]

@Passing_trucker As you said, freedom of assembly is guaranteed under the Constitution, however occupying public or private property is not.

[lami987]

Are you an American or a dictator from other country?