LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The use of pepper spray in an Aug. 24 incident in downtown East Lansing and subsequent departmental actions raise ethical concerns for East Lansing Police and government, said Davina Hurt, director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
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“The situation does raise some ethical questions — questions that go right to the heart of public trust,” wrote Hurt in an Oct. 7 email to 6 News Investigates. “When we’re talking about safety, justice, and accountability, these aren’t abstract ideas; they’re the foundation of how communities relate to law enforcement. By walking through this incident using a clear ethics framework, we can start to unpack what really happened — not just what was lawful, but what was ethical.
6 News Investigates provided Hurt with the body cam footage and the police report from the Aug. 24 incident. Additionally, Hurt was provided with the East Lansing Police Department’s press release from September 26 and security footage from Dave’s Hot Chicken (above). She was asked to assess all of the evidence from an ethical perspective.
In her emailed assessment, Hurt laid out her strategy for reviewing the evidence.
“An analysis last night was made in two phases: first, examining the ethics surrounding the actions themselves,” she wrote in an Oct. 7 email to 6 News Investigates. “Namely, the use of force and potential bias in policing was reviewed, and second, the ethics surrounding the subsequent reporting of those actions. Both dimensions are critical.”
Body camera and security footage
Hurt began her analysis by reviewing the videos…