Signal Akron asked Tim Dimoff, a veteran of the Akron Police Department, to analyze security camera footage from an Oct. 16 incident inside Firestone Community Learning Center where a school resource officer punched a student in the head three times.
The teenager was attempting to evade the metal detectors at the school’s entrance — the school resource officer, along with another Akron police officer working on contract, was attempting to detain the student when the punches were thrown.
Dimoff, who often serves as an expert court witness in use-of-force cases, offered his insights into the appropriateness of the police officers’ actions.
The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
What did the police officers first do when they encountered the student?
“The officers, you’ll see them, move up into the lane because they don’t want the student to get past the lane because then they have much more area that they can go to and escape or get away. It’s better to keep them contained in that lane area, and that’s what they’re doing here. That’s what they did to step forward here.”
Why did the officers first make contact with the student?
“He made a soft contact with him back in the lane and he didn’t stop. The student probably knew what was going on, knew that something went off or that he’s doing something improper. And he’s going to continue to move because of that or he could be totally in the dark. … He may not be sure they wanted him. So it’s either he knows it and he wants to keep moving so he can get away from them or he had no clue.
At this point, the officer does get a little more aggressive, goes up and kind of partially blocks them, touches them, has his hands on him to let the student know for sure: ‘We want to talk to you.’”
Why would the officers make contact with the student?
“Because the student did not successfully pass through the electronics without some sort of alarm going off. Meaning he has something on him — could be anything from a phone to a gun to a knife to something. And they, process wise, procedure wise, they do not want to let them get past these tables because he set off the electronic alarm. There’s something on him, most likely, that is not permissible in the school.”
When did the situation with the student begin to escalate?
“As you can see, the officers are talking to him. But the student now is going to go past the officers, attempts to go past them. And the student is in total violation of the officers’ instructions. And I would assume he did not pass through without setting the alarm off.
At this point, this student is not listening to them, is struggling to physically get by them. And I would say he’s probably pretty frustrated that they’re not letting him through. They’re frustrated that he is not listening to their instructions and following the security guidelines. This student is definitely violating the guidelines. These officers are frustrated, and now it’s escalating to a little more physical.”
How did the officers try to get physical control of the student?
“They now, it appears, are looking to get physical control of him one way or another. Either get him to empty his pockets or they’re going to grab him and they’re going to search him.”
What do you think was going through the officers’ minds when the situation escalated?
“I think at this point the officers might be thinking he has a weapon on him, he has a gun.
And it’s our duty to get that gun from him or that weapon from him, because this student has gone back and forth too many times, resisted too much and now he’s physically escalating. So I think those officers’ mindset is it’s increasing to what they fear.”
What happens when one of the officers falls to the ground?
“He’s only going to fall down if the resistance increases. So now, we have two officers who are experiencing an increase in resistance, and now an officer falls down, which tells this second officer, ‘Hey, this is starting to get really bad.’ The first officer is already saying, ‘I got knocked to the ground, whether I fell off balance or not, I can’t do that unless we’re getting an increase in resistance.’ So both of them right now, their mindset is, this student is escalating to a higher level of resistance.”
Why did the Firestone CLC principal move the tables out of the way?
“I think it was a good idea that the principal moved the table out of the way because she’s anticipating that the student is going to continue to resist. The resistance could very strongly escalate, the officers are trying to physically handle him, and I think she thinks they’re going to have to take or probably are going to take him to the ground. I don’t want them banging into the table, him hitting his head on the table. So she’s moving the table to give the officers more legroom to work him to the ground.”
Were the punches thrown by the officer warranted?
“In this video, it clearly, the officer was not in danger of serious bodily injury or death by the student’s aggression. … They did not need to punch him. Taking him to the ground was totally acceptable.”
Did other adults on the scene react appropriately?
“What was done very well here by the administrators, teachers, adults was they stood between the officers and the students. And you can see, they had their hands up, and they were telling the students to stay back, and they were a buffer between the officers and the students. Their actions, the adults’ actions, prevented other students from jumping on an officer, kicking or doing anything, you know, additional, and those adult workers there did a great job being a buffer between the officers and other students.”
Did anything else stand out about the arrest or situation?
“I think really this comes down to, you know, what is the protocol and the permissible procedure when you get resistance and it’s been, it’s, it’s back to the basic what they call the use-of-force continuum. Meaning your actions need to, you know, to equal the aggression that is, you know, coming at you or one step higher to prevent it, stop it and protect yourself as an officer. And once again this student, yeah, resisted several times, tried to get around it, was aggressive, but none of the actions of that student really endangered any of the two officers.”