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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Pepper Report Released

The long-awaited UC-Davis pepper spray report has now been released.  A link below will allow you to open the report (which also contains underlying Kroll report on the incident).  Some police officer names have been blanked out although the "pepper spray cop" is named.

Basically, the report suggests an amateur lack of control and decision making of the campus police involving the police chief and chancellor (and others in the chancellor's office).

President Yudof released the statement below:
Yudof statement on the release of UC Davis pepper-spray report

Date: 2012-04-11

I want to thank Justice Reynoso and members of the Task Force for the long hours and hard work they invested in this effort to fully understand the events of Nov. 18 and to propose remedies that might prevent similar incidents in the future.  My intent now is to give the Task Force report the full and careful reading it deserves, and then, as previously announced, to meet with Chancellor Katehi and discuss her plans going forward for implementing the recommendations.

Even a cursory reading of the report confirms what we have known from the start: Friday, Nov. 18 was a bad day for the UC Davis community and for the entire UC system.  We can and must do better. I look forward to working with Chancellor Katehi to repair the damage caused by this incident and to move this great campus forward.

The release of the Task Force report represents a significant step in that direction, which is why we fought hard in court to ensure that it would be brought into public light in as full and unfettered fashion as possible.  I also am expecting to receive within the next few weeks the results of the expansive effort, led by UC General Counsel Charles Robinson and UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley Jr., to address how we might better approach protest activities on all our campuses.  In closing, I want to reiterate what I stated at the outset of this arduous but necessary process: Free speech, including nonviolent protest, is part of the DNA of this university, and it must be protected with vigilance. I implore students who wish to demonstrate to do so in a peaceful fashion, and I expect campus authorities to honor that right.

A news report on the release is at:

The document is at:
UPDATE: Author of pepper report says Davis chancellor should not resign:
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/13/4410834/katehi-urged-to-stay-by-critic.html

1 comment:

DREGstudios! The Art of Brandt Hardin said...

When will we start holding officers accountable for their brutality and excessive use of force? The handling of protesters is Unconstitutional and endangers the basic rights of EVERY last American. Is this the country we were raised in, were men and women are beaten, gassed, pepper-sprayed and arrested for their disapproval of the government? We have to be careful to protect our Constitutional Rights! Raise awareness and do your part with these free posters I designed for the movement on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/11/propaganda-for-occupy-movement.html