Oroville police say a viral social media clip shows only the most heated moments of a June encounter with two teenagers, and that department body‑worn camera video tells a different story. According to the department, the full footage shows officers using only the force they believed was necessary to control an apparently highly intoxicated juvenile, then later reviewing the recordings after the clip sparked online backlash.
The department says officers were called out on June 7 for a report of several heavily intoxicated juveniles who could not care for themselves. They say they found a female and a male juvenile roughly 600 feet into a wooded area near a residential complex. Police told Action News Now the girl was highly intoxicated, began screaming for help, rolled down an embankment and resisted officers by kicking and thrashing. That behavior, they say, led officers to restrain her to prevent anyone from getting hurt.
Officers' response and body‑cam review
By the department's account, officers handcuffed the girl for her safety and their own, then held her legs to stop the kicking that they say was risking injury. They report spending about 40 minutes trying to calm everyone down before walking both juveniles out and placing them in patrol vehicles. Oroville's publicly posted policy manual, available through the City of Oroville, explains that the department uses body‑worn cameras and spells out how that footage is kept and reviewed; police say those recordings were central to how they evaluated the incident (Oroville Police Department).
The Oroville Police Department told Action News Now that the full video does not back up social media claims that an officer put a foot on the teenager's neck or made the threatening comments alleged in the post. The department says the officers "acted within department policy," relied on de‑escalation techniques and chose not to seek extra charges for the juvenile's resistance. Instead, according to police, they contacted the teen's parents and took the young person to a local medical facility after the teen made statements suggesting potential self‑harm.
Why residents are watching footage
In Oroville, as in many cities, video has become the go‑to way to settle disputes over what really happened in a fast‑moving street encounter. That trend sits on top of an already skeptical local mood. State records from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training show the commission has reviewed misconduct cases involving Oroville officers in recent years, and that history has made transparent body‑camera reviews feel especially important for community trust (California POST).
City officials say anyone with more video or questions about what happened should contact the Oroville Police Department. The department's policies and other public documents are available through the city's online document center (Oroville Police Department).
