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SAISD Officer On Leave After Slamming Student To The Ground

San Antonio Independent School District

 

The San Antonio Independent School District has launched a formal investigation into an altercation between a Rhodes Middle School student and an SAISD police officer that was captured on video.  
In the video posted on YouTube, Officer Joshua Kehm appears to grab a female student from behind, wrapping his arms across hers. She struggles, and he flips her over his hip and onto the ground. Students can be heard asking the girl if she is okay, but the girl does not respond.

 
Kehm was placed on leave Wednesday morning while the district administration and district police investigate, according to SAISD spokeswoman Leslie Price. 

 
The district said it cannot release any information about the officer other than he has been employed with the district since February 2015. 

 
Price says the district just learned of the incident and video late Tuesday and is working quickly to learn what happened and who was involved. 
 

 
"We’re not going to tolerate any kind of excessive force so we really need to make sure we understand what all occurred and that’s what this formal investigation is going to do for us," she says.
 
So far, Price says the district knows the incident began with two students being verbally aggressive toward one another. It happened at dismissal time on March 29 but the video was just posted to YouTube on Tuesday. 

"I can tell you the video is concerning and we’ve certainly reached out to all involved to learn everything we can about it," Price says.

Due to privacy issues she cannot say whether the girl suffered any injuries.

Tricia Schwennesen is the Web Producer/News Editor for Texas Public Radio where she manages the station’s web site and social media accounts.