San Antonio school district police officer Joshua Kehm, who was shown in a video last week slamming a 12-year-old female student to the ground, has been fired.
BBC reports that Kehm, who was initially placed on paid leave following the release of the video, was fired on Monday, “effective immediately.” In the video, Kehm is shown slamming Janissa Valdez to the ground face-first following an incident reported as “verbal aggression” between Valdez and another female student; classmates behind the camera are heard yelling, “she landed on her face!”
According to a statement from superintendent Pedro Martinez:
“We understand that situations can sometimes escalate to the point of requiring a physical response; however, in this situation we believe that the extent of the response was absolutely unwarranted. Additionally, the officer’s report was inconsistent with the video and it was also delayed, which is not in accordance with the general operating procedures of the police department. We want to be clear that we will not tolerate this behavior.”
An administration investigation is ongoing.
DISCUSSION
Good.
Is it common practice for school districts to have their own police force? I have no experience with this having grown up in a teeny place that didn't even have its own force for the village.