LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — There were strong words coming from community members Thursday night at the Clark County School board meeting.
They were expressing their frustration over a confrontation captured on video between a school police officer and a Clark County student.
One by one, people waited for their turn to address the Clark County School District Board of Trustees.
“We are still demanding a swift investigation and termination, and we are demanding reform, by this police department,” Nation Action Network of Nevada President Robert Bush told the board of education.
People were in line before the doors opened at the Edward A. Greer Education Center to attend the meeting on Thursday.
“Instead of police, our students need more mental health professionals, like psychologists, social workers, and counselors,” a CCSD student who identified herself as Diana said.
Video captured on Feb. 9 near Durango High School, shows a student recording an officer with his cell phone.
The officer then grabs the student from the back, puts his hands around the teen’s neck, throws him to the ground, and places his knee on the teen’s back.
“I don’t know what your political affiliations are, but they don’t need to be any one way to know that if you want to raise the next generation of leaders in Nevada, you can start by not throwing them around like ragamuffins,” Quentin Savwoir, the president of the NAACP Las Vegas chapter, said.
The video led CCSD Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara and CCSDPD Chief Mike Blackeye to review the agency’s use of force policy and protocols.
The officer involved in that incident was reassigned pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
The district has previously said that the officers were responding to a firearms call when they encountered the group of teens near Durango High School.
One of the teens told 8 News Now, he was walking from a shopping area to track practice.
The American Civil Liberties Union has cast doubt on the district’s reasoning for the stop.
“If the police heard a rumor about a gun in the neighborhood area, then why were these particular youth being followed? I hope it was not racial profiling,” Chris Giunchigliani said. She was previously a Nevada Assemblywoman and a Clark County Commissioner.
She added, “No student should be thrown to the ground and kneeled on.”
