The nation is outraged over UC Davis campus police using pepper spray at point blank range on students who were conducting a peaceful protest. INSIDE EDITION reports.
The police officers involved in a now-infamous pepper spray incident and their boss are off the police force today.
All across America people are expressing outrage over the video of the incident. It shows University of California Davis police using pepper spray on students. One officer raises the can of spray as if he's announcing he's about to fire, and then he does straight into the faces of protesting students.
The school's Chief of Police Annette Spicuzza said, "There are no encampments allowed and that's what was occurring and we needed to remove that."
Today she was placed on administrative leave. Both officers involved were also placed on paid leave.
And then there was also a shocking image from Oregon. A young woman took a direct hit in the face from a cannister of pepper spray.
Steve Kardian is a former police officer who's also a certified pepper spray instructor. He says in the right hands it's sometimes a police officer's best weapon.
"On its face, it looks bad, but the general public doesn't have an understanding of police use of force. We would rather give a limited intrusion by using the pepper spray and causing them some temporary inconvenience and pain, rather than hurting them permanently," said Kardian.
INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd said, "Most people across the country look at this video and they see the police pepper spraying the students point blank, and they say, 'It's outrageous. How can they do this?' "
"I believe had the pepper spray not been employed, it is likely that the students would have been injured moreso than if the pepper spray had not been employed," said Kardian.
