Officers are investigating deputy use of force against high school students

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Calcasieu Parish school and law enforcement officials are investigating allegations that a deputy used excessive force against students this week.

Videos circulating on social media show a deputy responding to two girls about to get into a fight at Barbe High School. According to the students, the videos were recorded during lunch break on Wednesday.

In a four-minute video sent to KPLC, no students were involved in a physical altercation, but a couple engaged in a heated verbal exchange as a large crowd gathered and some pulled out their phones to record it. At one point, a school staff member asked the girls to leave.

Videos show the scene from different angles, including when a deputy entered and pinned one of the student's arms behind her back.

A student then approached the deputy. It's unclear what the student said, but the resource officer yelled back and the student continued talking to him.

The officer grabbed the boy by the arms and pushed him onto a picnic table and then to the ground.

The student who the officer had grabbed earlier attempted to pull the officer off the boy, but the officer quickly pushed her back. She made further attempts to intervene and tried to push the police officer away from the other student.

The officer grabbed the girl by the back of the head and neck and brought her to the ground.

Then two more officers came up, dragged the girl away and handcuffed her arms. The officer restraining the boy pulled his arms behind his back and handcuffed him.

KPLC has reached out to the Calcasieu Parish School Board and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office, which employs school resource officers, for comment on the incident.

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office released the following statement:

“We are aware of the circulating video involving our CPSO School Resource Officers at a local school. As with any incident involving physical contact, we take this matter very seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation into the incident and incident.

“Our SROs are committed to creating a safe environment on our school grounds, and sometimes that means stepping in when situations become unsafe for students or staff. While video clips, like any investigation, can capture a single moment, we must conduct the investigation in full to capture the full context of a situation. We ask the public to give us time to conduct a full investigation to understand the entire incident.

“CPSO’s goal in schools is to protect our students and school staff and to handle all incidents with professionalism and care.”

The Calcasieu Parish School Board shared the following statement:

“The Calcasieu Parish School Board is aware that an incident occurred yesterday at Barbe High School between a Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's School Resource Officer and several students.

“We are conducting our own investigation into the matter and fully support CPSO in doing the same. While we recognize that the use of force, even in the interest of safety, is a sensitive matter, we would like to assure the community that every effort will be made to thoroughly investigate the incident.

“Our primary responsibility is the safety and well-being of all students, staff and visitors. The use of force by law enforcement and security agencies with whom we work must always be reasonable, proportionate and consistent with established guidelines. We are confident in our relationship with the CPSO and their ability and willingness to conduct a full and impartial investigation into this matter.

“Our students need to be safe and secure on our campus, and we are committed to continuing to ensure this not only in Barbe, but throughout the district.”

Copyright 2024 KPLC. All rights reserved.