Bodycam footage from Durango High altercation released by ACLU of Nevada
The Clark County School District released body camera video from an incident last year near Durango High School after months of refusing to do so and only after a judge’s court order.
On Thursday night, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, which sued last year to force the school district to make the footage public, made bodycam footage from the incident involving a CCSD Police Department officer available to the Review-Journal and other media outlets.
The footage shows a Feb. 9 incident that the school district said stemmed from a report about a firearm near the high school.
On Dec. 18, District Judge Danielle Chio ordered the Clark County School District to release the body camera footage by Jan. 17 after the ACLU of Nevada sued the district for the release of the records.
Chio wrote at the time that the body-worn camera footage should be released because prosecutors did not pursue a case against the juvenile who was cited and because the juveniles’ parents signed a release waiver that was filed with the court.
In a statement released Thursday evening, ACLU of Nevada Legal Director Chris Peterson criticized the district for taking so long to release the footage.
“It’s shameful that it took nearly a year for our clients and our community to see transparency from CCSD and its police force,” Peterson said in the release. “Bodycams were always meant to be a tool for the people to make sure our police are acting responsibly in our community, and moving forward, we will keep fighting for the other public records we’re seeking and considering all legal options for making sure there is justice for our clients.”
The ACLU will hold a press conference at its office, 4362 W. Cheyenne Ave., at 10 a.m. Friday, according to the statement.
The organization took legal action against the school district in April, two months after a video posted to social media in February appeared to show Elfberg pushing a Black student onto the ground and putting a knee onto the student’s back.
The student had been recording the arrest of other juveniles, the ACLU has said, and the district has stated the confrontation stemmed from an investigation into a report of a firearm near the school.
Though the cellphone footage had already been posted online, the ACLU said that the body-worn camera footage should show that the student had a First Amendment right to film the officer.
CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara issued a statement after the February incident, saying he would direct school police to review its use-of-force policy, the Review-Journal reported at the time.
The judge in December also ruled that an internal affairs report detailing the investigation into the involved officer Lt. Jason Elfberg, which did not result in discipline, is confidential and does not have to be released by the school district.
Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on X. Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.
