Residents demand firing and policy changes after video of Fairfield High arrest sparks protests

A wave of public comment at the Fairfield City Council meeting on June 16 centered on a May 20 arrest at Fairfield High that residents say showed excessive force against a minor. Family members, students and community leaders pressed the council to speed the outside investigation and to remove and decertify the officer involved.

The city manager told the council an outside firm, Chaplain and Hill, is conducting the investigation and estimated the firm’s work will take about 90 days, followed by one to two months for review by a newly formed citizen audit committee. The manager said the committee will include Nquila Walker Gibson, Pastor Sam Morris, Jonathan Richardson, Will Macgarvey, Amy Fabi, Andrea Garcia and a yet-to-be-named Fairfield‑FSUSD representative.

Why it matters: Speakers said the timeline is too slow given video circulating online and called for immediate administrative actions. They tied the incident to broader questions of school safety and racial equity and urged policy changes to restrict strikes on minors.

Family members and students gave detailed accounts and demanded accountability. Ruthie Fischer, identifying herself as the student’s grandmother, told the council: “If Officer Brown would have punched my grandson one more time, I believe we would be sitting up there looking at two deaths, not one. Fire her, decertify her, because this has to stop.”

Other witnesses described longstanding community concerns about police conduct. A student speaker, Robert Myers, described being on the autism spectrum and said a similar use of force against him “could kill me,” calling the officer “a threat” to the community.

Council response and process: City staff described the investigative sequence: the outside firm’s fact‑finding, then citizen‑audit review, then any potential disciplinary or Skelly procedures under public‑employee rules. The city attorney reminded the public that the presence of retained counsel for family members triggers ethical rules about communications with a represented party.

Calls for policy change: Multiple speakers asked for clear written prohibitions on striking minors unless there is an immediate life‑threatening danger. Joseph Joyce, speaking for the community group that has been organizing around the incident, summarized a list of reforms the speakers want, including explicit “do not strike” language for minors and a public acknowledgment that a wrong occurred.

What the council can (and has) done: The council did not take immediate disciplinary action at the meeting; members reiterated that an active investigation is underway. Staff said they will return with the audit committee’s review when complete and that further action will follow the investigative and Skelly processes.

What’s next: The outside firm’s work and the audit committee’s review are expected to take several months. Community members at the meeting pressed for shorter timelines and publicly visible interim steps. The council did not vote on a policy change at the June 16 meeting; several constituents asked staff to bring draft child‑safety use‑of‑force language to a future meeting for formal consideration.