Student protest led to review of charges against bullied teen: police chief

[CHIMO]

Keswick, Ont. — If not for a courageous act of mass disobedience by the students of Keswick High, the case of a 15-year-old black belt charged with assault after being racially abused and punched by a classmate might never have been reviewed, the York Region police chief acknowledged Wednesday.

At a packed press conference chief Armand La Barge called on the Crown to drop a charge of assault causing bodily harm against the 15-year-old, saying the police investigation was flawed from the outset.

Mr. La Barge said the charge would never have been laid if his officers had conducted a full and proper investigation.

He said he was disappointed that the investigation “was not as detailed as it could have been, or as it should have been,” and that it failed to take into account the impact of the racial slur. It will be up to the Crown to decide whether to drop the assault charge when it reaches court May 13. No hate crime charges will be laid against the other student because making a racist comment is not against the law, the chief said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090506.wpunch0506/BNStory/National/home

[Spazito]

1. Kudos to the students! Shame on the school and the police....

I can only hope both the York Region police authorities and the school will re-visit what they did wrong and change it so this does NOT happen again. Minor kudos to the Police Chief for admitting where he and his officers failed in their duty.

[Posteritatis]

2. I love it when students put their foot down over stuff like this

The whole thing should've stopped when the kid decked the bully.

I wonder if this might start some discussion someplace about how stupid school policies that forbid self-defense are?