Force used by security and police at PA school has many outraged
Hazle Township PA Feb 7 2019
A 15-year-old girl was punched, slammed into a table, and had her hair yanked while being restrained by school security officers in Pennsylvania.
Shocking footage shows the chaotic scene at Hazleton Area High School in Hazle Township, Luzerne County, when a uniformed security officer appears to hit the student’s knee in order to force her head down onto a cafeteria table.
But the restraining doesn’t end there, with the officer then grabbing the teenager’s hair and yanking her forward.
Shocking footage shows the chaotic scene at Hazleton Area High School in Hazle Township, Luzerne County, when a uniformed security officer appears to hit the student’s knee in order to force her head down onto a cafeteria table
The seemingly brutal act sparks uproar from the surrounding students who scream at the group of officers to stop.
However, the district’s superintendent Brian Uplinger told Newswatch 16 that the use of force was part of the officers’ training to de-escalate the situation.
He added that there were actually three separate fights which quickly escalated – with four students being suspended while the school investigates.
But the restraining doesn’t end there, with the officer then grabbing the teenager’s hair and yanking her forward
Mr Uplinger insisted: ‘It’s important to know there are always two sides to every story,’ WYOU television station reported.
He added: ‘It’s really important for parents and students and community members to get both sides of those stories before going to social media.’
School District Police Chief Ed Harry said the officers acted properly to ‘get [the situation] under control immediately’.
He explained: ‘You can see from the snippet of video there were hundreds of kids in the cafeteria and they were cheering her on, yelling and cheering her on. They needed to deescalate that.’
