Video shows fight between Fall River student and police

May 2, 2019 11:40 pm

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — An intense, expletive-laced video is causing concern in Fall River.

In it you can see a student engaged in a fight with two police officers inside a school building.

Those officers repeatedly demanding that the student put his hands behind his back.

But what the video doesn’t show is what led up to this moment at Resiliency Preparatory Academy.

Fall River Public Schools Superintendent Matthew H. Malone issued the following statement regarding the incident:

“Today we had an incident at Resiliency Prep Academy between a student and school administration that escalated into a situation involving our Fall River Police Department School Resource Officers. Said student was restrained by the Fall River Police Department School Resource Officers and later released to his parent, pending a summons involving a criminal complaint filed by the Fall River Police Department. We are investigating this situation in conjunction with the Fall River Police Department as we interview witnesses, review statements, view security videos, and analyze all available associated evidence to more fully understand the entirety of this specific incident. Please know that we will carefully review all applicable polices, regulations, and laws to determine if all proper and appropriate protocol was followed correctly and responsibly.”

The reaction on social media included outrage over what some believe is an example of excessive force.

But Fall River Police issued the following statement:

“Two Fall River Police Officers assigned to the School Resource Unit working at the Resiliency Prep Academy were involved in an incident with a juvenile student. The incident remains under investigation as it pertains to the Officers’ use of force during the incident. We are aware of a short video that was taken of part of the incident and it will be reviewed as part of the investigation. In any use of force incident, the totality of the circumstances must be considered and we will not rush to judgment until all facts are obtained. The matter will be reviewed through the chain of command and the justification of force will be determined. We cannot properly assess the incident until all evidence, video and reports are obtained.
At this time, we are working with the Fall River School Department in obtaining video surveillance footage and investigating the matter thoroughly. We can confirm that the juvenile will be summonsed to court as a result of the incident and that he was released to the custody of his parent.”