Now that a week has passed since the incident at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, we feel it is time to comment.
The cell phone videos of the violent confrontation between Deputy Ben Fields and a female student have sparked a national discussion about a host of issues. Fields was fired as a result of his actions, and several local and federal investigations are ongoing.
We feel that in this case there were failures on multiple levels. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott suggested some of the responsibility falls on the student for failing to follow commands to leave the classroom when asked repeatedly. We believe some falls on the teacher and school administrator who involved Fields and supported his inappropriate actions. And some falls on Fields, who, as Lott said, should have handled this in a different way.
But as the protests by students at Spring Valley in support of Fields and by activists against him at the South Carolina State House show, it is not a clear-cut issue of fault. We do think that school resource officers should not be called in to arrest in cases of disobedience — that should be reserved for situations when other students are in danger. They should also strive to de-escalate situations whenever possible.
We think this incident should be used as a jumping-off point for conversation on multiple fronts. The role of officers in schools, disciplinary procedures and police use of force are just some of the concerns that have been debated already.
Hopefully, we can make progress in these areas so this sort of mayhem doesn’t become a regular occurrence in schools.