Union Taking Action to Defend Officer at Campus Kilpatrick

By the Local 685 Executive Board

We are deeply troubled by reports that one of our members has been placed on administrative leave for using OC spray to break up a violent group altercation at Campus Vernon Kilpatrick, as detailed in yesterday’s Daily News article (click here to read).

Your Executive Board strongly rejects the implication that doing our job and making critical safety decisions to protect youth and officers in these dangerous conditions is misconduct. We are vigorously defending the officer.

The following is a statement from the Local 685 Executive Board:

The Board of Supervisors and their Chief Probation Officer made the decision to transfer high-risk female youth and young adult offenders from multiple facilities into Campus Vernon Kilpatrick, a site that had previously operated as a home-like setting designed for lower-risk youth. Per state law, all of the transferred individuals required placement in a secure facility due to the seriousness of their offenses and behavioral history.

Under the prior Campus Kilpatrick model, the use of OC spray was prohibited because the population housed there did not present the same level of security risk. That policy was not meaningfully revisited before this higher-risk population was moved in, nor were officers provided adequate preparation and advance training to manage the increased security challenges associated with the transfer. Given that the facility’s population and operational model fundamentally changed without corresponding policy clarification or retraining, the Department’s claim that “policy is clear” is simply inaccurate. In reality, there has been significant confusion regarding the appropriate use of pepper spray in what is now operating as a Secure Youth Treatment Facility.

In mid-January, 14 of these high-risk youth were involved in an uncontrolled brawl. OC spray, a non-lethal and Department-approved tool for Secure Youth Treatment Facilities, was deployed to stop the violence and indeed prevented serious injuries to both youth and officers.

Our members acted professionally and appropriately in a dangerous and volatile situation. We categorically reject efforts to shift blame onto frontline officers who were responding to a dangerous incident created by policy decisions beyond their control. Our responsibility is to maintain safety. That is exactly what the officers on duty did.