Ex-LAPD Chief Bratton To Probe Pepper-Spraying Incident By UC Police

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department has been hired to investigate the pepper-spraying of student protesters at a University of California campus last week.

Bill Bratton, who now serves as the chairman for private security consulting firm Kroll, has been officially hired by the university in the wake of the now-viral video footage that occurred during a protest at the Davis campus.

Bratton told KNX 1070 he plans to conduct a full and comprehensive investigation.

"There are a number of, if I understand it, various angles and videos that were taken, and so the idea is to get as much of that as we can," he said.

On Tuesday night, Chancellor Linda Katehi told students that she asked police to remove tents from the university's quad, but did not direct them to forcibly remove the demonstrators.

But the chancellor clarified her statements on Wednesday, saying that campus police defied her orders when they used pepper spray on student protesters last week after she apparently told police to be peaceful with the students.

Bratton said he wants to hear from both the campus police officers and the students on "what was going on, what was the provocation that the officers are claiming resulted in the actions they took, were they within the policies and procedures of the University of California and the laws of California".

A report on the incident is expected to be completed by late December.

In addition to the Davis incident, the UC system will also investigate policies across its campuses statewide.