HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT … to the distress of some and the elation of others, it’s clear from the statement of University of California President Mark Yudof that he plans no change in the status of Chancellor Linda Katehi in light of the just released pepper-spray report …

Although many are calling the conclusions of the Reynoso and Kroll reports “devastating” for both the chancellor and her administrative team, Yudof pretty much ended all speculation about the chancellor’s future when he said “I look forward to working with Chancellor Katehi to repair the damage caused by this incident and to move this great campus forward.” …

Whether Yudof also looks forward to working with Lt. Pike, Police Chief Spicuzza and the several vice chancellors slammed in the twin reports remains to be seen …

A LAWYER’S DREAM … the cost of UC Davis settling that lawsuit filed by those who were pepper sprayed on the quad just spiked dramatically upward thanks to the Reynoso report …

Wrote the task force: “UCDPD General Order No. 559 provides that pepper spray can be used, but specifically refers to the MK-4 (a smaller canister). Furthermore, the investigation found no evidence that any UCDPD officer had been trained in the use of the larger (Defense Technology) MK-9. Kroll supported their conclusion that use of pepper spray was not reasonable use of force by stating ‘This conclusion is buttressed by the fact that the MK-9 is not an authorized weapon under UCDPD guidelines and that UCDPD officers were not trained in its use.’ The Task Force agrees.” …

Even more damning, Reynoso states: “Lt. Pike is also responsible for the specific pepper spray weapon he used, the MK-9, and the manner in which he used it. Lt. Pike did not use it correctly. The MK-9 is a higher pressure type of pepper spray than what officers normally carry on their utility belts (MK-4). The recommended (start ital) minimum (end ital) distance for application of the MK-9 is six feet. Lt. Pike appeared to be spraying protestors at a much closer distance than 6 feet.” …

So, from the standpoint of a lawsuit against the university, we have a detailed report that says top administrators failed to properly communicate to the police about use of force, we have a “very dysfunctional” police force, an incident commander who relinquished his duties to another that day, an unauthorized weapon in the UCD police arsenal, use of that unauthorized weapon and misuse of that unauthorized weapon by spraying from a distance of closer than six feet, and — the cherry on top of the whipped cream — the conclusion that in any regard the use of pepper spray of any kind was not justified by the circumstances …

Settle this thing and settle it quickly before the protesters start discussing which campus buildings need to be sold to pay the damages … maybe toss in five years free tuition and a couple of season passes to the Mondavi to defray the University’s out-of-pocket costs …

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES … as detailed in the Kroll report and reported in this very newspaper, Lt. Pike plucked a canister of pepper spray from the utility belt of another officer … the pepper spray used, the unauthorized MK-9, is described to Kroll by a UCDPD trainer as “a five-gallon gas can versus a one-gallon gas can.” …

Are we to believe Pike snatched a five-gallon canister from another officer’s utility belt before he began the assault seen round the world? … I don’t know much about pepper spray, but five gallons of water weighs in at just over 40 pounds and that’s a heck of a lot of weight to carry on one’s belt …

ABOUT THAT REDACTION ACTION … while I certainly don’t want any other officers to go through the type of harassment that Lt. Pike has been subjected to, by keeping everyone else’s name secret, Lt. Pike is taking all the blame when there are clearly some other bad actors in this despicable affair … given that the human heart has only so much venom to spew, Pike and Pike alone has become the poster child for bad behavior …

Certainly his actions are indefensible, but it’s hard to overlook the Reynoso report’s conclusion that “Our key finding bears repeating. While the deployment of the pepper spray on the Quad at UC Davis on November 18, 2011 was flawed, it was the systemic and repeated failures in the civilian, UC Davis Administration decision-making process that put the officers in the unfortunate situation in which they found themselves shortly after 3 p.m. that day.” …

In other words, had the right decisions been made in Mrak Hall and properly communicated to all involved, there’s a strong likelihood that the pepper spraying incident never would have happened …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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