Two University Police officers attempting to control post-game frenzy on Ryan Field on Saturday night may have crossed the line between crowd control and excessive force, several students said Monday.
But Asst. Chief Daniel McAleer of UP said that he does not believe that his officers — who are trained annually in the appropriate use of force — would have acted out of line.
Several students, including one charged with battery, said the officers pulled at least one student from the goalpost at the north end of the field, causing him to fall 7 or 8 feet.
Communication senior James Kapner, arrested on charges of grabbing officers and resisting arrest, said he got into a “pushing match” with the officer who dragged the fallen student — Kapner’s roommate — toward the locker room. Kapner said the officers choked him and verbally abused him before arresting him.
Kapner said he plans to file a complaint against the two officers, most likely with Northwestern’s Office of Student Affairs. Kapner said he is not “up in arms” and doesn’t blame the entire police force, but wants to prevent similar actions.
“I understand that as Northwestern University police officers, their job is to keep the peace, but I think the way in which they did it was very much wrong,” he said. “I guess I was wrong about grabbing a cop, in general, but in this specific instance, I felt like it was necessary.”
McAleer said his officers “have a duty to take the actions necessary” in certain situations.
“It doesn’t mean that they can use more force than is necessary,” he said. “But it does mean they can use adequate force to bring the subject under control.”
Education senior Jeff Wilson said he and other students were climbing a goalpost after the victory when a UP officer pulled him down.
Wilson said officers dragged him to the locker room and knocked him to the ground.
McCormick junior Thomas Hines, one of several witnesses to the event, said he saw an officer pull a student from the goalpost.
“There was a loud thud and he was on the ground,” said Hines, who plans to file a complaint with UP. Wilson and Education senior David Grossman also may file complaints.
Grossman said he followed the officer dragging Wilson and yelled for him to let go before an officer grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the ground. The officer then pulled him by the waist of his jeans and tried to drag him to the locker room, but other students held on to him, Grossman said.
“I thought it was all over because the two cops left,” Kapner said. “I was watching the goalposts and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I feel somebody put me in a chokehold.”
He said the officer put his thumb on Kapner’s throat and slammed him to the ground.
The police report indicates that officers used “pressure-point tactics” on Kapner, McAleer said. He said officers use these tactics “not to hurt anyone” but to stop resistance.
McAleer said if the students are concerned about Saturday night’s events, they should file a complaint with his department.
“If they honestly believe that the officers did something inappropriate, we would look into that and find out if such actions took place,” he said.
Reach Marissa Conrad at [email protected].
The Daily’s Alison Knezevich and Malavika Jagannathan contributed to this report.
