UC Davis has just announced that Police Chief Annette Spicuzza has been placed on administrative leave, pending a review of officers’ use of pepper spray against protesters. UC Davis Lt. Matt Carmichael will serve as interim police chief.
“I take full responsibility for the events on Friday and am extremely saddened by what occurred,” Chancellor Katehi added. “I eagerly await the results of the review, and intend to act quickly to implement reforms that will safeguard the rights of our students, faculty and staff to engage in nonviolent protest.”
Chancellor Katehi has also called on the Yolo County District Attorney’s office to investigate the Police Department’s use of force. The district attorney agreed to conduct a review in collaboration with the Yolo County sheriff’s office.
In a letter to Police Department staff, Vice Chancellor John Meyer said that the decision to place Chief Annette Spicuzza on administrative leave was necessary to allow “a fact-based review of events, assist in calming the community environment, and allow the department to focus on its current and substantial demands.”
Vanguard Comment: This is the right move to make – though we still ultimately believe that Chancellor Katehi bears a huge amount of responsibility here. It is clear that the decision about the deployment of the police, the fact that it was a lieutenant on the front lines using the force, bears investigation.
She was apparently present at the event and lied about what happened.
“The students had encircled the officers,” UC Davis Police Chief Annette Spicuzza said on Saturday. “They needed to exit. They were looking to leave but were unable to get out.”
The video shows clearly that this did not happen. The police were allowed to move freely in and out of the crowd without any sort of impediment.
We doubt that the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office will find any criminal misconduct on the part of police, though it seems pretty clear that they violated UC’s use of force procedures.
The official policy: “Chemical agents are weapons used to minimize the potential for injury to officers, offenders, or other persons. They should only be used in situations where such force reasonably appears justified and necessary.”
Clearly, it is questionable at best whether the use of pepper spray, in a situation where the protesters are passively resisting but otherwise not a safety threat, adheres to those guidelines. But based on past policies, DA’s are reluctant to criminally prosecute police officers.
The University has been very slow to respond to this crisis. As we have noted and the Bee noted in an editorial this morning, the original reaction by Linda Katehi was to defend the actions of the officers.
As the Bee noted this morning, “It appeared the UC Davis protests were dying down before the police overreacted Friday, and it didn’t help that Chancellor Linda Katehi initially came to their defense. Now protesters are vowing to show up in even greater numbers today.”
It was only after the situation virtually exploded that the Chancellor backed off that defense. Then yesterday, two police officers who were videotaped deploying pepper spray against seated protesters were placed on administrative leave.
On Monday, Chancellor Katehi will initiate the creation of a task force to conduct the campus review. The task force will convene immediately and will be asked to issue its recommendations within 30 days.
The chancellor also plans to hold a series of meetings and forums with students, faculty and staff to listen to their concerns and hear their ideas for restoring civil discourse to the campus.
“The events last Friday do not represent the UC Davis community we all aspire to be members of,” Chancellor Katehi said. “The safety of our students and their ability to express themselves are paramount as we strive to create the best possible learning environment.”
Ten protesters were arrested Friday in connection with an overnight encampment of about 25 tents on the campus Quad. University policy prohibits overnight camping. The protesters were cited and released on misdemeanor charges of unlawful assembly and failure to disperse.
Videotapes showed officers spraying seated protesters with pepper spray following the arrests.
Eleven protesters were treated on site for the effects of the pepper spray, including two who were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were treated and released.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
My life has taken on a “bookends” quality in the past few days. Somehow the way James Perkins and Cornell handled this situation
[img]http://www.library.cornell.edu/iris/images/straight2.gif[/img]
[img]http://platform.ak.fbcdn.net/www/app_full_proxy.php?app=6009294086&v=1&size=o&cksum=ed7a84bbf051688541ac04a702f87a1d&src=http://cornellalumnimagazine.com/images/stories/cam_issues/2009_marpr/straight-takeover01-00.png[/img] stands in stark contrast to the events outside Mrak Hall.
In the end Cornell’s President lost his job for his handling of a much more “charged” situation, which is especially noteworthy as we look at Chancellor Katehi’s actions over the past few days and in the weeks to come.
This comment has been moved to our Bulletin Board: null ([url]/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=2&id=20&Itemid=192#20[/url])
Bad sign: Katehi’s using the “throw ’em under the bus” strategy. But the alligators are still after her!
The chief’s total lack of affect, when being interviewed was striking . Did it seem troubling to any of the medical/psych professionals out there ?
That’s kind of her personality, so I’m not sure how much we should try to glean from it.
biddin sez: [quote]The chief’s total lack of affect, when being interviewed was striking .[/quote] YUP, in the world of Kumbaya a lack of affect is definitely a mental disorder, if not a crime.
Noreen, very funny. Kumbaya, lol….you hit the nail on the head.
Katehi should resign based on this act: scapegoating the Chief instead of taking responsibility for her own mistakes and failures in decision-making. When you throw a subordinate under the bus to save your own skin, you have identified yourself as an ineffective leader.
I wonder if years of hiring practices partly led to this incident. Rather than hiring big fit people for the job, all sorts of other qualifications have weakened the corps. You end up with many officers who are not fit enough to move people around and as a result they think they have to resort to “tools” like pepper spray and tasers to make up for physical inadequacies.
[i]”The chief’s total lack of affect, when being interviewed, was striking.”[/i]
I was more dumbstruck by her two-toned ‘do.
[i]”Katehi should resign based on this act: scapegoating the Chief instead of taking responsibility for her own mistakes and failures in decision-making.”[/i]
I don’t understand the logic in that. Ultimately, if anyone must be punished over this incident–oddly enough, an incident which you have said was just–it should be, in my opinion, the person who ordered* the use of excessive force. If that was Chief Two-Tone, then she is the one. If Chancellor Katehi ordered the pepper-spraying, then she should pay the price.
*Ordered? I don’t know that anyone above the level of Lt. Pike “ordered” this action. It would not surprise me if he made this decision on the scene and did not consult with anyone above his pay grade**. But, even if that is what happened, it is possible that discussions at the level of the Chief or even the Chancellor created the atmosphere which led to Pike thinking this was what he was supposed to do. I expect that will be investigated.
**Did you realize that as a lieutenant on the UCD police force, Mr. Pike makes $110,243.12 per year (2010) in base pay? I would imagine with benefits and pension his total comp is close to $180,000. … Chief Annette Spicuzza is paid a base salary of $140,417.28 (2010). That is roughly equal to what these other positions at UC Davis pay: Nurse Administrator II; Physician Assistant; Pharmacist Staff II; Nurse Clinical IV; and Nurse Practitioner II.
“I wonder if years of hiring practices partly led to this incident. Rather than hiring big fit people for the job, all sorts of other qualifications have weakened the corps. You end up with many officers who are not fit enough to move people around and as a result they think they have to resort to “tools” like pepper spray and tasers to make up for physical inadequacies.”
Come on Alphonso, you know liberals would never let them just hire big strong candidates, they have to be all inclusive.
You know what’s funny? If the protesters that were sprayed file lawsuits and win they’ll most likely become part of that loathed one percent.
[i]”I don’t understand the logic in that. Ultimately, if anyone must be punished over this incident–oddly enough, an incident which you have said was just”[/i]
Katehi should resign for demonstrations of poor leadership in response. Any employee loyalty that existed prior to this event just got wiped out by her throwing an employee under the bus to try to save her own skin. My guess is that she was involved in the decisions and directives. At the very least, her failure to specify what actions the UC police should or should not take would be her responsibility.
Demonstrated leadership would b: “I take full responsibility for the actions of the employees of the university. I believe that mistakes in judgment were made and I will ensure that they never happen again.”
[i]”Did you realize that as a lieutenant on the UCD police force, Mr. Pike makes $110,243.12 per year (2010) in base pay? I would imagine with benefits and pension his total comp is close to $180,000. … Chief Annette Spicuzza is paid a base salary of $140,417.28 (2010). That is roughly equal to what these other positions at UC Davis pay: Nurse Administrator II; Physician Assistant; Pharmacist Staff II; Nurse Clinical IV; and Nurse Practitioner II.”[/i]
$140K for a chief is a bit high, but it is the value of the benefits that takes it over the top. However, I’m surprised that these other positions are paid that much. A Physician’s Assistant makes $180k in total compensation? Please say it ain’t so!
[i]”I wonder if years of hiring practices partly led to this incident.”[/i]
Rusty, you bring up a good point. I know that the Davis PD has had to modify many protocols because of their diversity in hiring practices. Frankly, many cops are not strong enough to lift full-sized adults and they have to use tools to help them get the job done. The PD will standardize protocol to the lowest common denominator. So, might the use of pepper spray be blamed on the liberal inclusiveness worldview?
Jeff,
Do you notice the lack of liberal posters here today? Do you think they all dusted off their bandannas and raided their garages of spray paint and headed out to UCD to protest? They’re all giddy, they now have a cause.
Have you noticed some folks tendency to reduce everything to liberal/conservative . Try viewing the facts and reasoning for a change .
“Why Only Conservative Comments to this story?” someone observed?
The liberals concerned with protecting their first amendments rights, i.e. right to assemble and seek redress from government, are assembling lawfully on the UCD quad right now. They aren’t on line now.
“You have to move to break your chains” I think someone posted
Rusty,
“Do you notice the lack of liberal posters here today? Do you think they all dusted off their bandannas and raided their garages of spray paint and headed out to UCD to protest?”
I don’t suppose it has anything to do with the general obligations one may have during the work week.
rusty49 noted: [quote]You know what’s funny? If the protesters that were sprayed file lawsuits and win they’ll most likely become part of that loathed one percent.[/quote]
NOT if they are successful – like the Headwaters winners and receive remuneration in a settlement totaling the nominal award of…
[b]$1[/b]
JB – [quote]$140K for a chief is a bit high[/quote]
IMHO, not for a Dept. Head
“NOT if they are successful – like the Headwaters winners and receive remuneration in a settlement totaling the nominal award of…”
AdRemmer, I’m sure they wouldn’t go for an evil monetary settlement because that would be too capitalistic.
Silly me. Here all these years I thought the purpose of riot gear and pepper spray/mace was to “quell riots.” What do think they would have used if there really had been a riot? Grenades? Biological warfare?
The important thing to remember is that “The Cause” now has (local) martyrs. (Saul Alinsky would be proud.) [b]KRISTIN KOSTE[/b]R, a “post-doctoral lecturer”, let the cat out of the cellophane bag in her statements to the Davis Enterprise (Sunday, November 20, 2011). And the Lame Stream Media is helping her to dupe some UCD students. Ah, well, when WILL they ever learn?
BTW, based on the preliminary “reports” re Katehi’s press conference earlier today, she did the required Kumbaya trip, thus avoiding the mortal sin of “lack of affect” which biddin, in an earlier post, above, pinned on UCD Police Chief Spicuzza. BUT . . . will this be enough to allow her (Katehi) to keep her Chancellor’s position?
Not that it matters: stay or leave she will not be out of a job as she has a very high paying faculty position at UCD, and the political thugs will once again run fool at UCD, as they did under Vanderhoef, because she will be unable to control their obnoxious activities. (BTW, Larry V. was much more successful at dodging responsibility for bad decisions. Of course, the local “boosters”, among them the Davis Enterprise, gave him a pass on such matters as Celeste Rose and Frank Loge.)
If you watch the Aggie TV interview with Katehi from 11/20, she still says that “technically, the police followed protocol” – this seems to contradict the very police policy posted here.
Did anyone else notice that Occupy Davis moved?
Apparently, the Davis Police Dept decided that, after I wrote to the Chief of Police, Landy Black, asking him why he was not enforcing the no camping law and after I explained to the Davis cops that after 5.5 weeks in one place, the Central Park Occupiers were killing the lawn, the DPD decided to tell the Occupiers to move a hundred yards south. And today they did.
“the DPD decided to tell the Occupiers to move a hundred yards south. And today they did.”
Big deal, they’re still an eyesore but now in the middle of the park.
Rich,
Glad to hear they made way for lawn preservation. When I camp on a friend’s lawn covered property while hunting in Montana, he requests that I move my wall tent every two weeks so as not to kill the lawn.
Quite a difference between the U.C. and City of Davis relationships with demonstrators!
[i]”Big deal, they’re still an eyesore but now in the middle of the park.”[/i]
Perhaps, since the police find it best not to enforce the no-camping laws, a good solution to the “eyesore” problem would be to use some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in the Civic Arts fund to pay Christo–presuming Christo is still alive and would be willing–to transform the tent city in Central Park into one of his rather impressive works of display art.
Here is an example of what he did in Central Park in New York City:
[img]http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/02/13/gates_wideweb__430x278.jpg[/img]
Here is his famous “running fence” in Marin County:
[img]http://www.marin.edu/art107/images/ChristoRunningFenceLand.jpg[/img]
I think his best piece ever was the blue umbrellas of Japan:
[img]http://www.writedesignonline.com/Prompts/Christo-Umbrellas.jpg[/img]
Rifkin: [i]Did you realize that as a lieutenant on the UCD police force, Mr. Pike makes $110,243.12 per year (2010) in base pay? I would imagine with benefits and pension his total comp is close to $180,000….[/i]
And that’s before you start counting the royalties he might get for the use of his likeness everywhere.
Rich
thanks for the pics. Close call for me, but I tend to favor The Marin installation.
Jeff
“I wonder if years of hiring practices partly led to this incident.”
Rusty, you bring up a good point. I know that the Davis PD has had to modify many protocols because of their diversity in hiring practices. Frankly, many cops are not strong enough to lift full-sized adults and they have to use tools to help them get the job done. The PD will standardize protocol to the lowest common denominator. So, might the use of pepper spray be blamed on the liberal inclusiveness worldview?
Given that the use of clubs, water hoses, dogs … etc have a very long history in the United States, say back to the south of the “good old days” long before there was any concern about diversity hiring, I think some of you may be getting a little carried away wtih this ” the liberals made it happen” thing.
Jeff, you in particular seem always to be in favor of individual rights and responsibilities. It seems clear to me that here we have a clear cut, photographed case of personal responsibility in action. What we do not have, and so is at this point speculative, is who issued what orders and how clear and unambiguous were they,
So before we start calling for firings or resignations from either political side, and for any supposed reason, maybe we should wait until a few facts are known. I can think of a few different scenarios that might lead to very different outcomes.
For example what if:
1) Katehi orders the tents cleared but protestors left unmolested. In that case this would seem to be the police
overstepping their instructions as the tents could have been taken down and passed over the protesters heads
easily since it was a single row of them sitting peacefully.
2) Katehi could have ordered the tents and students removed using only nonviolent means, in which case again it
would appear that the officers overstepped their instruction
In these two scenarios it would seem to me that the blame would not fall on the Chancellor, but rather on the individuals from the police force who were there, had direct authority, and chose to disobey direction. In those scenarios it would have been correct, not “throwing anyone under the bus” to place the responsible individuals on administrative leave pending complete investigation.
3) Katehi orders the encampment cleared, but gives no specification of how it should be accomplished
4) Katehi orders the encampment cleared and implies or states by any means needed
In these circumstances I can see how she would be fully responsible for the actions of the campus police and should be taking full responsibility, not just with the relatively weak statements she has made so far, but with any steps necessary up to and including her resignation should that be deemed necessary by an independent investigation.
The same kind of analysis should be applied to the actions of the police chief and Lt. Pike. We simply do not know who ordered what and when. However, what is clear from the tapes is that other officers were able to remove protestors peacefully and harmlessly prior to the spraying. I would like to point out the Lt. Pike does not appear to be a small or weak individual. Cuffed protesters can be seen being led away by physically smaller individuals than
Lt. Pike. So much for the “too weak to move them” argument. Each of the individual officers still remains responsible for their own actions. By the physical act of applying the spray to nonviolent, nonthreatening protesters, at the least Lt. Pike and the second applying officer should certainly be on administrative leave pending investigation.
However, I think it is way too soon to be calling for ” the rolling of heads”. To me this applies equally to the protesters calling for the resignation of Katehi and to those of this blog demanding the same for very different reasons. Jobs, regardless of pay scale, should not be based on political preference or flimsy speculative arguments about what may have happened. I personally would not be disappointed with the departure of some of those involved, but thankfully, my personal preferences are not what should dictate what happens to the career of another individual.
So, some think that UCD Police managers and administrators are overpaid. Would you like their job right now? Looks like there will be some vacancies, soon.
Before you respond, consider the level of support you will receive from the several layers of administration above you in any crisis. Take a look at their salary structure while you’re at it.
Factor in tacky and very public remarks about your hair style and inferences of past misdeeds that have no basis in fact or relevancy. Then, determine what you have to say publicly in response and how it will be twisted, then mocked, and then aligned with a favored political issue that has no association with the event at hand. You public responses will be shouted down in exceedingly rude fashion and defended as “free speech.”
Finally, your legions of critics never had the answers to resolve the problem before action was taken. At least none had the courage to go public as the crisis was forming. But the wisdom always appears after the fall-out, together with a compelling need to share it. Enjoy the ride.
Medwoman
You make sime good “what ifs” and I think it s human nature, not necessarily good, to want to blame when outraged. Some of my emotion about Friday has been directed at the chancellor along with the police. BUT regardless if your “what if”, leaders should lead strongly and crisply and her words and conduct SINCE the incident has not shown the leadership our university desires or deserves, in my opinion. But thanks for making us think!
Soda
I tend to agree with you, but would still like all the facts, and a weighing against overall performance prior to calls for resignation or firing.
Phil don’t forget the part of the job that requires dispassionate responses to young people shouting “Fuck the police.”
[i]”So, some think that UCD Police managers and administrators are overpaid.”[/i]
I don’t think anyone actually said that the UCD police are overpaid. (Jeff Boone came close.)
However, I think it is reasonable to put various expenses in context. The first context is that while $110,243.12 per year (2010) in base pay for a police lieutenant is high compared with the median working adult in Yolo County, it is not especially high compared with all UC Davis employees. In 2010, UCD had 619 employees (including doctors at the Med Center in Sacto) making over $200,000 in base salary*.
Another context is how much the students are paying to matriculate at UCD. The reg fees (plus required health insurance) this year are $13,082**. (I think the fees my freshman year at UC were under $900 in 1982-83.) If the total comp for one police lieutenant cost the university $180,000, then that would be equal to full fee scholarships for 13.76 students.
I wish we lived in a world where most public employees saw themselves as public servants, the way a James Meyer did, and accepted a lot less in pay, and that we did not push so much money into the prison system and paid our jail guards a lot less, so that reg fees could be a lot closer to $1,000 a year than $13,000 a year. But, alas, that is not the world we are living in.
*The highest paid UCD employee is Merrill E Gershwin, PROFESSOR-MEDCOMP-A. His “base pay” is listed as $356,926.83. However, his total pay for 2010 is listed as $932,092.66. It is not explained why he got an extra $580,000 over base pay. I am certain that with benefits, pension, etc., his total comp was north of $1 million.
**My understanding is that the main notion of the Occupy UC Davis movement came as a protest to the higher and higher fees, now over $13,000 per year. Insofar as the students are blaming the “1 percent” for this situation, I think they are dead wrong. There are three primary reasons why a UC education is so much more costly now than it was in the 1980s when I was an undergrad at UCSB and a graduate student at UCSD: 1) the massive increase in our prison population stole away the dollars from the state budget which used to subsidize higher education in our state; 2) the power of the California Teachers Association and their Proposition 98 stole away more dollars from higher education; and 3) almost all public employees make in real dollars double or triple or quadruple what they made in total comp back in the 1980s. The students are paying for those enriched salaries and benefits. If the Occupiers want to scapegoat someone, I would suggest they start with the CCPOA and the CTA.
[quote]If that was Chief Two-Tone, then she is the one.[/quote]
Have you never heard of “salt and pepper” shade of gray? It is perfectly natural for some people. Being gray haired myself, I understand the concept. I’m not sure that someone’s hair color should be at issue…
Let me correct that: I know that someone’s hair color should not be an issue…
[i]” I’m not sure that someone’s hair color should be at issue… “[/i]
Humor, dear. Humor.
Rich, you deserve a good pepper spraying. 🙂
ERM: [i]Have you never heard of “salt and [b]pepper[/b]” shade of gray?[/i]
You may want to be careful how you use that word these days.
It won’t upset me if Don Shor removes this post, because it is certainly off topic, but I effectively pepper sprayed myself last night. I was trying to create a spicy chai tea latte drink. The previous few times I had tried I had put in too little spice. So this time I tripled the number of pepper corns and quadrupled the number of cloves. Then, with the drink fully cooked and the spices strained, I tried my concoction. Tasty, yes. But waaaay too much pepper. It was like drinking a Lt. Pike chai tea latte.
[img]http://chaiteabestprice.us/images/c/c9/tazo-organic-chai-spiced-black-tea-latte-concentrate-32-ounce-containers-pack-of-6-p.jpg[/img]
[quote]Humor, dear. Humor.[/quote]
Sorry your sense of humor sometimes escapes me. The “Two-Tone” comment came off to me as very mean-spirited… Someone’s personal appearance should be off limits IMO…
Secondly, as one who has very gray hair, it also hit a nerve… your turn will probably come… and then tell me how you feel…