Officer Fired After Slamming Student

Officer fired after slamming student to the ground

[caption id="attachment_2618" align="alignleft" width="150"]

Richland County Sheriff's Department Officer Senior Deputy Ben Fields is pictured with Karen Beaman (R), Principal of Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School after receiving Culture of Excellence Award at Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina on November 12, 2014. REUTERS/Richland County Sheriff's Department/Handout[/caption]The video of the officer has gone viral at this point, and he has since been fired from the force. Here is what CNN has to say:

The South Carolina deputy who slammed a disruptive student on the floor and tossed her several feet has been fired.

Other students in the classroom at Spring Valley High School caught the incident on video.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott suspended Deputy Ben Fields without pay, and then fired him Wednesday.

Fields violated police regulations when he threw the girl, the sheriff said.

Fields was the Spring Valley High School resource officer whose actions Monday were recorded by students and ignited a firestorm on social media. Among the criticisms: his admitted use of "muscling techniques" to get the student out of her chair.

But that's only one part of the story. Federal investigators have gotten involved. Another student arrested from the classroom has spoken out. And the sheriff is criticizing a South Carolina law that he says muddles the role of school resource officers.

Sheriff says student deserves part of blame

Richland County has 87 school resource officers, Lott said, and the "actions by Deputy Fields was not typical of the job I expect them to do."

Fields did wrong and was fired for his actions, Lott said.

But the student must shoulder responsibility for the disruptive behavior that escalated to the officer being called in, the sheriff said.

"When a classroom is disrupted by a student, that disrupts the education process and the students can't learn and the teachers can't teach," Lott said. "We have to have discipline in our schools."

What the student did does not justify the officer's actions, the sheriff said, but she must take responsibility for her role.

"We must not lose sight that this whole incident started by this student," he said. "She is responsible for initiating this action. Some responsibility falls on her."

See the full article from CNN.

Original video:

https://youtu.be/Tq4BR5KHuqAAdditional angle:

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