Discipline or Brutality? S.C School Security Officer causes Outrage

• Video Shows Officer Flipping Student in South Carolina, Prompting Inquiry
• Richard Fausset and Ashley Southall, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/us/officers-classroom-fight-with-student-is-caught-on-video.html

• who- The South Carolina school security police officer is one of two subjects of this article, along with the schoolgirl in the classroom.
• what- On October 26th, 2015, a high school security officer who is deputy in the sheriff’s department, responded to a disruptive student in a classroom who was refusing to leave class. Multiple videos in the article from various angles show the officer approaching the student and telling her to follow him, and her refusing to do so. Another video shows the officer insisting the student give him her hands. All of the videos end by the officer flipping her desk and dragging her across the floor.
• where- a classroom in Spring Valley High School, Columbia, SC.
• when-October 26th, 2015.
• why- The officer asked the student to leave the classroom with him, but she refused, and he proceeded to flip the table.

• democratic values-
• liberty- Liberty is is the right to live, behave or believe as one pleases without oppression. In this case, the girl refused to get up from her seat after being asked to by the officer. The officers next action should not have to forcefully yank her from her seat, because that was restricting her right to live, behave or believe as she wants.
• equality- Equality is the right to be treated the same. In this case, it is clear that the girl was not being treated equally. She, like most of the other students, was using her phone in class. But unlike the others, she was targeted. This is just another example of minorities being treated without the equality they deserve. There has been an increase in aggressive tactics used by police officers, especially on minorities.
• bias:
• “The lawsuit said Officer Fields “unfairly and recklessly targets African-American students with allegations of gang membership and criminal gang activity.” A jury trial is set to start on Jan. 27.” By sharing this piece of information, the author is sharing that this officer is known for targeting african-americans and that this situation escalated quickly because of his past. The author shares several other stories that are biased by story selection because they give more details on the police officer and his past uses of excessive force.
• “The videos of the classroom encounter were reminiscent of a cellphone video earlier this year that captured a white police officer in McKinney, Texas, shoving a black teenage girl in a bikini to the ground at a gathering at a neighborhood swimming pool. The police in that instance had been responding to reports of a fight and a disturbance at a pool party, and the officer resigned soon afterward.” This is bias by story selection because it is giving examples of past mistreatments of minorities and how excessive force has been a reoccurring theme among police officers.

-Abby and Nate