Task Force Report Harshly Criticizes UC Davis Police for Pepper Spraying Students

The 34 Page Report for UC Davis Police Pepper Spray Incident.for an investigation carried out by an independent task force was released today, after a month of delay because of a lawsuit by Lt. John Pike and UC Police Union. The findings of the report which is now available at the University of California website can be summarized by this quote: "Our overriding conclusion can be stated briefly and explicitly, The pepper spraying incident that took place on Nov. 18, 2011, should and could have been prevented."

 The task not only harshly criticized Lt. John Pike who is depicted above calmly spraying the faces of seated and apparently peaceful  students, but also blamed senior police and administrative officials, including Chancellor Linda Katehi and police Chief Annette Spicuzza for their lack of leadership during the protest.

The detailed report can be viewed here. 

In an open letter, UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi thanked Justice Reynoso and each member of the task force for investing "such extraordinary effort" and vowed to "continue efforts to make
UC Davis a model for tolerance, inclusivity and constructive, spirited dialogue" and develop a detailed action plan which will ensure "students’ safety and free-speech rights" in future.


Here is the  online videos that went viral around the world that shows UC Davis demonstrators being pepper sprayed by the Campus police on November 18, 2011: