COLLEGE PARK, Md. 鈥斅燭he University of Maryland鈥檚 Police Department has into the use of pepper spray by officers at a graduation party on May 21. The findings have resulted in apologies to the students involved and the suspension of a police officer.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 often get it wrong; mostly we get it right, this is not one of those cases,鈥� said UMD Police Chief David Mitchell.
During the incident, officers arrived at聽the Courtyards Apartments off University Boulevard in College Park after a 911 call came in about a possible fight at the party involving weapons. At the scene,聽police discovered that there was no fight but due to the size of the party, responding officers determined that the graduation get-together should be broken up.
According to the report released by police, some party-goers left willingly, some did not. The first use of pepper spray was by two officers who found themselves surrounded by party attendees. The second involved an officer spraying a person he thought was acting uncooperative with another officer.
All instances were deemed justifiable but investigators found that on the second occasion, the officer violated the school鈥檚 policies when it came聽to the manner of deployment of pepper spray. That officer was suspended for two weeks without pay.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 handle the call right to begin with: We didn鈥檛 de-escalate the situation, we escalated the situation,鈥� Mitchell said.
Mitchell said his officers should have used more diplomacy from the beginning of the call and said聽he has apologized to the students involved from the party, which was primarily made up of African-Americans.
鈥淭he antagonistic approach of the police in this initial encounter, and the demand for a break-up of the party, led to an escalation of tensions,鈥� UMD鈥檚 President Wallace Loh .
Mitchell said the school is reviewing its use of force policies and will retrain officers on pepper spray use based on the results of the review.
鈥淗ere鈥檚 the bottom line: It should not have come to the use of pepper spray whatsoever,鈥� Mitchell said.
The initial call about a fight, which sent police to the apartment complex, was discovered to have been made by someone who wasn鈥檛 allowed into the party. That person now faces criminal charges for making a false report to 911.
Body camera footage was used by the school to review the case and some of that footage is expected to be released to the public on Monday.
