Complaints against Redlands High school security officers rise
Redlands CA June 2 2018 The rough encounter in April between campus security guards and a Redlands East Valley High School senior suspected of drug possession appears to be an aberration for a school security force that nevertheless has seen a spike in complaints in the past two years, according to district documents.
Seven complaints were lodged against security personnel in the Redlands Unified School District during the 2017-18 academic year that ends Thursday, but none involves the level of force used in a classroom confrontation April 25 against student Jesse Aparicio.
Aparicio’s family filed a complaint that the 17-year-old was “slammed” face-first into a wall twice during his math class after security guards asked him to come outside. The confrontation was captured on a video shot by a student.
According to records released by the district in response to a California Public Records Act request, two employees involved in that incident were on paid administrative leave as of May 24 while the case was being investigated. The five officers who responded to that incident have a wide range of experience with Redlands Unified, from 20 years to less than a year, according to records obtained by the Southern California News Group.
None of the security staff members involved in any of the complaints over the past three years were named in the complaints released by the district. Redlands Unified — which has a school population of more than 21,000 students — employs 27 security guards and officers, according to a district official.
The seven complaints against Redlands security personnel this year reflects an increase from six complaints in 2016-17 and just two in 2015-16, both which were determined to be unfounded after investigations.
Four of the complaints filed this school year were well-founded, according to the district, two were not and the seventh — the Aparicio case — is still under investigation. Those determined to be justified were mostly routine incidents, including:
A security officer interacted unprofessionally with a student. A disciplinary document was placed in the file of the employee, who remains with the district.
A security guard spoke harshly to students who violated the dress code. The employee was given a verbal warning and counseled about how to properly interact with students.
A security guard did not follow protocols when searching a student. A disciplinary document was placed in the guard’s personnel file.
A security officer in a Redlands Unified squad car pursued a motorcycle and exceeded speed limits even though two students were in the back seat and not wearing seat belts. The officer was verbally warned and counseled on appropriate safety procedures.
The two unfounded complaints involved a security officer who allegedly stuck an arm out in an attempt to “clothesline” a student attempting to cut in a lunch line and a guard who closed lunchroom doors on a student as the school bell rang, forcing the student to use another entrance to the school.
In the 2016-17 school year, five of the six complaints about security personnel were determined to be justified. Those complaints ranged from using profanity in interactions with students to excessive force in breaking up a fight. One employee who is no longer with the district failed to notify parents before searching male students for a cellphone that had been reported missing.
The only unfounded complaint from 2016-17 involved a student who supposedly was grabbed by the shoulder to stop him from running away from a fight.
Neither of the two complaints from the previous school year were justified, the district said.
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