THE POLICE OFFICER caught on camera throwing a female student across a classroom has been sacked from his position.
Senior Deputy Ben Fields found himself in the spotlight after a video of the incident was widely shared on social media.
Speaking earlier today at a press conference, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said that the officer in question did not “follow proper procedure”.
Fields had been a school resource officer at the South Carolina school.
According to the BBC, the incident had not been the first one the officer had been involved in, and that previous complaints against him had been upheld.
On one previous occasion he had been sued, but a jury had found in his favour.
In his address Sheriff Lott said that the student involved had not been seriously injured, only receiving carpet burns.
This was an account contradicted by the girl’s lawyer Todd Rutherford who told ABC News that the girl in question had sustained injuries to her forehead, neck and back.
The incident apparently happened when she had refused to put her mobile phone away.
Fields’ responsibilities as a ‘school resource officer’ involved pursuing anti-drug policies and accompanying students on school trips.
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