AKRON, Ohio — An Akron police school resource officer (SRO) punched a high school student in the head three times after police said the teen tried to avoid school metal detectors.
That use of force is now under internal review by Akron police.
It happened last Wednesday when police say the 16-year-old tried to get into Firestone High School without walking through metal detectors.
Mayor Shammas Malik held a news conference to discuss the officer’s actions. Akron Public Schools also released surveillance video.
The video is from inside the school as students walk in for the day.
The superintendent calls the actions of the school resource officer unacceptable.
That officer is no longer in the high school or part of the SRO program.
At the end of the video, you see a scuffle between two Akron police officers.
“I found the video upsetting. I expect many others will as well,” said Malik.
According to the police report, the SRO was trying to arrest the teenager. It started when the principal called the officer when she couldn’t find the teen who hadn’t gone through the metal detector.
After finding him, they walked the teen back to the detectors. In the report, the officer said he wanted to make sure the teen didn’t have weapons.
After several attempts to get the teen through the detector, the video shows the boy trying to run into the school.
The two officers struggled to get the teen to the ground when the SRO punched the boy in the head three times with a closed fist.
The resource officer later learned the boy had a cell phone, which isn’t allowed in school.
“That may have been what gave rise to this incident,” Malik said.
The mayor said no weapons were found on the student.
In a statement, the school district asked the school resource officer to be removed from Firestone immediately, and the city provided a new candidate they could review before placement in the school.
Akron police are now doing an internal use of force review.
“I recognize that many people may not trust this process. I want to inform you that I take a fair and complete process very seriously,” Malik said.
The officer is on administrative leave. News 5 Investigators spoke with two use-of-force experts who take issue with punches to the head. But one said that, at the same time, it appears there was enough indication of a concern about a possible weapon making it into the school.
The teen faced several charges, including resisting arrest, but the mayor said they’ve been dismissed pending the outcome of the internal review.
The student's attorneys, Bobby DiCello and Ken Abbarno released the following statement Monday afternoon:
DiCello Levitt’s Bobby DiCello and Ken Abbarno have been retained by the family of an Akron Public School student who was punched in the head multiple times by an Akron Police Department School Resource Officer (SRO) at Firestone Community Learning Center (CLC). The incident occurred on October 16 during morning metal detector procedures. Video surveillance released by Akron Public Schools shows two officers restraining the 16-year-old boy before the SRO punches him in the head multiple times before wrestling him to the ground.
“He is a child. And no child deserves to be punched in the face by an adult, especially when that adult happens to be an Akron police officer,” said Bobby DiCello. “Arrests by the Akron Police Department must not be a source of needless violence against the men, women, and children of the City of Akron. An arrest must follow proper procedures, not be driven by an officer’s rage, because if we let that rage be the standard that dictates how people in Akron are treated, our Constitution will be torn to shreds.”
At Akron Public Schools’ request, the SRO was removed from Firestone, and the SRO is now on administrative duty. DiCello Levitt will hold a press conference in the near future with family of the student.
