Published May 07. 2021 11:52PM
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Bates College officials have decided to take away the batons carried by its security officers this week, following a petition signed by 18 groups and 546 people.
The petition by the Bates Leftist Coalition and the Bates Restorative and Transformative Justice Coalition called for the removal of batons and handcuffs from the officers and opposed equipping them with body cameras, the Sun Journal reported.
The petition is the result of an altercation on March 5 where a veteran officer, Dennis Skinner, tackled and handcuffed a first-year student at the Maine college who refused to identify himself.
Skinner was fired last week following an outside investigation.