Principal Defends Student's Rights Against Police Search

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]On April 24th, several Denver Police Department officers arrived at RiseUp Community School, a charter school within Denver public schools, searching for a juvenile student suspected in a shooting that had occurred the night before in Lakewood. The officers did not locate the suspect inside the school.

[00:00:16]None of the students encountered in the footage were connected to the shooting.

[00:00:20]The interaction that followed was captured on camera.

[00:00:22]>> What are you doing over here, man?

[00:00:24]>> Smoking.

[00:00:25]>> What else are you doing?

[00:00:27]>> Okay. Is there a like a place called Rise Up over here?

[00:00:31]>> Yeah.

[00:00:31]>> Where's that? How do you get in?

[00:00:33]>> Right there in the back. Oh, in the front >> through the fire the Denver fire entrance thing.

[00:00:38]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:00:39]>> Okay.

[00:00:40]>> Okay. So, the the entrance is on there on the other side.

[00:00:43]>> Yeah.

[00:00:44]>> Okay. Do you go there?

[00:00:45]>> Yeah.

[00:00:45]>> Okay. Do you have a ID on you, bro?

[00:00:48]>> You need a school ID or just a regular >> ID? Just anything. Whatever you got.

[00:00:53]>> What's the problem?

[00:00:54]>> Oh, somebody's calling on you. just acting suspicious. That's all.

[00:01:00]>> I I don't know about that, but I was just smoking and chilling.

[00:01:03]>> Probably somebody's just judging me. So >> maybe >> I don't know about that, but they need to stop that racist [ __ ] >> I don't know if it's all about that, but um >> I'm just chilling. I'm minding my own business, you know. I was just standing.

[00:01:15]>> Yeah. Yeah. We're just making sure >> cuz my principal uh he usually >> reference the call at the rise up. I spoke to Loretta. She is not there.

[00:01:24]>> What's that? No, my uh my um my principal usually comes out here and just checks because you know there's kids smoking weed or dabs right here.

[00:01:35]>> That might be it, too. All right.

[00:01:37]>> I'm just chilling. So, >> you're not smoking weed or anything?

[00:01:39]>> No, this is vaping. Yeah. All right.

[00:01:43]>> Y'all really park just to walk?

[00:01:47]Hell no.

[00:01:49]>> What's up, man?

[00:01:50]>> What's up?

[00:01:50]>> We're just trying to figure some things out.

[00:01:52]>> All right. You all got to park like this to figure something out.

[00:01:55]>> Well, how else you want us to park?

[00:01:56]>> At least on the side. Let people drive by.

[00:01:59]>> Nah, that's the one perk that we get now.

[00:02:04]>> I know. I would offer y'all some pizza, but y'all kind of messed up my day now.

[00:02:08]>> I didn't mean to do that. We were just >> We just what? Assuming.

[00:02:14]>> No, you were just assuming.

[00:02:16]>> Not you.

[00:02:16]>> You guys are just assuming. I want you guys going to walk in and tell somebody my teacher going to tell you they just left 10 minutes ago for what? So you guys going to follow us?

[00:02:25]>> Well, you're not going to listen to me, so I won't talk to you. I was >> What is that to listen to?

[00:02:28]>> He matched the description to somebody.

[00:02:30]Okay, >> I You just told somebody 10 minutes ago cuz I just talked to him.

[00:02:34]>> Well, I don't know who you talked to.

[00:02:37]>> All these matches.

[00:02:40]>> Not you.

[00:02:41]>> He matches the description.

[00:02:43]>> Yeah, red jacket is what we're looking for.

[00:02:46]See, that's it.

[00:03:01]Have you seen uh here today?

[00:03:05]>> Um yeah, he was he was he's been in class.

[00:03:08]>> Is he here now or did he split?

[00:03:11]>> As far as I know, he's he's here now. Um he he would either >> That's okay.

[00:03:17]>> He would either be um up at lunch or just now going back to class.

[00:03:23]>> Okay.

[00:03:25]>> He and his brother both.

[00:03:28]Can I help you?

[00:03:29]>> How are you?

[00:03:30]>> Nice to meet you. I'm sorry.

[00:03:31]>> Hi. How can I help you?

[00:03:33]>> We are looking for to talk to one of your students.

[00:03:36]>> Okay. Can I ask who you're asking to speak to?

[00:03:38]>> I'm sorry.

[00:03:38]>> Can I ask who you're asking to speak to?

[00:03:39]>> Sure.

[00:03:40]>> It's uh Okay. Can you just hang out here for one second?

[00:03:50]>> Okay. I'm gonna stand right here. Hey, Sarah.

[00:03:56]>> Okay. Yeah. Can you call Lucas? We can just wait here for the principal. That's fine.

[00:04:02]>> Hey, how are you?

[00:04:04]>> Hey, how are you?

[00:04:08]We're pretty sure he's here.

[00:04:15]>> Oh, yeah. What's going on?

[00:04:20]>> Okay. So, basically I So, I can't let you guys come in and pick him from the school. I can let him know that you're here and then I can ask him if he wants to talk to you, but if he refuses, then I can't go get him and bring him to you.

[00:04:34]Um that's not to say that you know that can't get him after school hours or anything like that but um that's just our policy in terms of you know what I mean like in terms of like so so I can let him know and then what I would say to him is um >> let us start with that first student outside the officers told him someone called reporting suspicious ious behavior and asked for his ID. Here is the problem. That is not how reasonable suspicion works. In Terry versus Ohio, the Supreme Court held in 1968 that a stop is only justified when an officer has specific and articulable facts that criminal activity may be a foot. Someone called saying you look suspicious is not an articulable fact. It is a conclusion.

[00:05:28]The student was not legally required to produce ID unless the officers had reasonable suspicion tied to specific conduct. And there is nothing in this footage to establish that. Now, Principal Ketzer, he arrives and immediately explains that school policy prohibits staff from compelling a student to speak with police against their will. That is not obstruction.

[00:05:51]That is compliance with Denver public schools district policy which states that if a student is under 18, a parent or guardian must be present during a law enforcement interrogation unless the parent waves that right. Ketzer was not hiding anyone. He was doing his job.

[00:06:14]>> Is that what you're saying?

[00:06:15]>> I'm not confirming or denying he's here.

[00:06:17]I'm just saying that we would bring a student to you guys.

[00:06:22]for attempted homicide last night.

[00:06:24]>> I I get it. I mean, trust me, I get it.

[00:06:26]I'm just saying that, you know, whatever the circumstance. Um, you know, that's just it's always the way that we live.

[00:06:34]>> Do you have kids?

[00:06:36]>> Yeah. So, I'm not going to talk about my kids. I'm not going to talk about >> So, if he shot at your kids though, you do you have the same policy?

[00:06:42]>> So, I'm just I'm just going to say that that's our policy. You guys, you know what I mean?

[00:06:47]>> Yeah. I mean, I'll see. I don't even know if he's in the building to be honest with you. Well, that other teacher pretty much implied that he's here. So, >> I don't know if he's here. So, >> I can go with you if you want. It's up to you.

[00:06:59]>> So, we want guys around the I think more cars are coming.

[00:07:03]>> No, they're going to they're not going to cooperate. So, >> why can't we go?

[00:07:10]>> We have to search the whole school at this point.

[00:07:14]Well, Adam, if we get any other cars coming, if they could just kind of keep an eye on the perimeter. The staff at the school is uncooperative and uh they've implied he's here, but they're not cooperating with us. So, there's a chance this guy's going to try and get out and exit.

[00:07:36]>> You know what he's wearing? Is he wearing the same >> Yeah.

[00:07:39]>> red and white hoodie?

[00:07:43]Yeah, he's not.

[00:07:56]>> Yeah, I mean that. Yeah. No, that's that's fine.

[00:08:01]>> Yeah. I mean, he's not here. He's not >> looking at him. Watch me start away.

[00:08:07]Where am I?

[00:08:08]>> Yeah, I get the position you guys are in. Um he's not building >> head that way as well.

[00:08:17]>> We just need to have the north side.

[00:08:20]>> Is there is there like do you guys have a card so that >> right? That's what I mean. I mean that's the message that we give him too. I mean it's the message we always give our students like.

[00:08:38]>> Okay.

[00:08:51]Okay, cool. Thanks a lot.

[00:08:52]>> Take care. Thanks. I appreciate it.

[00:09:02]>> Just so you know, other teacher.

[00:09:05]>> Okay, great. Thank you.

[00:09:09]And then it was like he realized he made a mistake. Oh boy, you're not talking to the person.

[00:09:14]Roll call has broken kind of slow. Can you send us a call?

[00:09:25]We're almost >> Yeah. The first teacher I thought was here >> and then the teacher was like he realized he screwed up. He's like whatever. on the radio.

[00:09:39]>> Well, actually, you're not talking to my >> probably I bet they hit him up there in a closet or something >> until we leave.

[00:09:48]And anybody that was on the staff member, how are they being uncooperative?

[00:09:55]>> Was it 12?

[00:09:59]>> Upon initial contact, we had a teacher that verified that he was here and then uh they changed their story and said we had to talk to the principal. Now the principal is denying us access to the school, denying uh us to look around and now they're saying he's not here. We believe they're trying to hide him.

[00:10:29]Do we know if there's any other students inside?

[00:10:44]>> So, it's inside this building here.

[00:10:45]>> Yeah, this one. Can you just hang here with him? Let me grab my shotgun real quick.

[00:10:48]>> Yeah, if you don't mind.

[00:10:51]>> What am I doing?

[00:10:53]>> You can go in and get the keys to this.

[00:10:59]>> The word uncooperative is doing a lot of work in this footage. And it does not mean what the officers think it means. A school official following the written policy of their district is not being uncooperative. They are doing exactly what they are required to do. Now, if Principal Ketzer knew the student was inside and lied, that is a different legal question entirely. Section 188111 of the Colorado Revised Statutes makes it a crime to make a false report to law enforcement authorities. And section 188105 makes it a crime to assist another person in evading apprehension, which includes concealment and deception. So, Ketzer was walking a real legal line here. But telling officers a student is not present if he genuinely believed that or if the student had already left is not a crime. The officers had no warrant. They had no court order requiring the school to surrender the student. At this point in the video, they had nothing but frustration.

[00:12:04]12.

[00:12:38]I'm coming behind you.

[00:12:41]>> No one tried to be aggressive with the principal.

[00:12:44]>> I have no idea.

[00:12:45]>> Makes no sense.

[00:12:46]>> No clue. No clue what's going on out there.

[00:12:52]>> Okay. So, Officer Lara asked me where he should be.

[00:12:56]>> Yeah.

[00:12:56]>> I just went and took what he should be in the class here. He's not there.

[00:13:01]on the >> on this floor.

[00:13:03]>> Mhm.

[00:13:03]>> Yeah. There's only the two floors. So, >> which which classroom? I mean, I'm going to go there yet, but >> if you don't know, you don't know.

[00:13:10]>> No, I know what class. It's it's it's the only class on the right down this hallway. He's >> all the way down to the right. Okay.

[00:13:16]>> Yeah. He's not there. So, well, all the way down on the right is a is a workshop.

[00:13:21]>> But the class you were talking about, it's on the right hand side.

[00:13:23]>> Yes. Okay.

[00:13:25]>> 674. Adam, we had uh one adult female uh teacher come out the back door and corporal talking to her right now.

[00:13:38]Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here.

[00:13:41]>> Come out this way. Come out this way.

[00:13:46]>> Talk to this.

[00:13:51]>> I assume you're a teacher.

[00:13:52]>> Yeah. What are you doing? Apparently, there's a kid in there.

[00:14:02]>> 674. Adam, we had uh one adult female uh teacher come out the back door and Corporal Waldock is talking to her right now.

[00:14:19]>> It's everything is fine with us.

[00:14:22]No, we we got her. Uh, she's going to have access to get into the building from back here if we need to.

[00:14:29]>> Do you have access to the to get back in? Okay. So, we might we may need you.

[00:14:33]>> I Please let me in.

[00:14:35]>> Do you want her to go back in?

[00:14:36]>> Nope.

[00:14:37]>> They they just said not to.

[00:14:42]>> You may want to keep her off her phone.

[00:14:44]She's been on it non-stop since she came out.

[00:14:52]She's texting them.

[00:14:55]She's telling them what we're where we're at, what we're doing.

[00:15:04]>> So, my name is Mike Eaton. I'm the chief of department of safety for Denver Public Schools. Okay.

[00:15:08]>> So, I oversee all security and police operations for the district. So, right now, I want to talk to the principal and see if we can get the situation, you know, remedy before we let anybody else Are you guys in lockdown right now?

[00:15:21]>> Well, not not that we know.

[00:15:24]>> I mean, >> I think we're okay for right now.

[00:15:28]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:15:30]>> Huh?

[00:15:31]>> Yeah. He's supposed to be class.

[00:15:33]>> Okay. So, can we just take the monsters just check because they have to do verification. I have to verify that we don't have an arm.

[00:15:39]>> So, hold on. What? Hold on. What class is he?

[00:15:41]>> What about his other >> Is he in there? Okay. Hold on. Or he's supposed to be in there. Okay. Can you hold on one second >> before you go in?

[00:15:49]Okay. Go ahead. Sorry.

[00:15:52]>> This is the moment the legal calculus shifts. Chief Eaton is not just any school employee. He oversees 140 team members, including armed patrol officers, and is responsible for safety decisions districtwide. When he gives the officers permission to search the classroom, he is the appropriate authority to do so. Now, do police even need a warrant to search a school? In New Jersey versus TLO decided in 1985, the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment does apply in schools, but that students have a diminished expectation of privacy in that setting.

[00:16:26]The court found that searches need only be reasonable under the circumstances, not backed by a warrant. Here, officers had a report of a potentially armed suspect inside a building full of children. They obtained consent from the district's chief safety official. Under those circumstances, a court would have a very difficult time finding that entry unconstitutional. The warrant question was answered the moment Eaton said yes.

[00:16:52]>> This one right here you guys know >> Hi guys.

[00:17:04]>> Well, there's somebody we're looking for. We're going to just make sure they're not here.

[00:17:07]>> Okay, I'll ask her.

[00:17:08]>> Look at your face real quick.

[00:17:11]Thank you.

[00:17:13]>> Thanks, guys.

[00:17:17]>> It's a little familiar right there.

[00:17:24]>> Take off your for me, buddy.

[00:17:27]>> Stand up for me real quick.

[00:17:28]>> Yeah, there's a little >> Yeah, probably.

[00:17:35]>> This guy has earrings. Yeah.

[00:17:38]>> Thanks, man. Thank you. All right.

[00:17:49]>> Thanks, guys.

[00:17:58]>> Not in there. I mean, by this point, he could be anywhere.

[00:18:05]>> So, When I the first teacher that I talked to that said was here implied that he was upstairs.

[00:18:12]>> Okay.

[00:18:13]>> She said that's because everybody wants you upstairs.

[00:18:15]>> Okay.

[00:18:17]>> And no one I mean several students came down but I didn't see him come down. So >> and then after we talked to the principal he went straight upstairs.

[00:18:25]>> Immediately went upstairs and then came down and say he's not here.

[00:18:29]>> Okay.

[00:18:29]>> So it never had anything to do with the classroom either. So I just for what it's worth to go check upstairs. Do you guys want to check upstairs?

[00:18:35]>> We would like to. Yeah, just to cover that base.

[00:18:40]>> She's in the car.

[00:18:42]>> Is there any other way down besides this stairway right here?

[00:18:45]>> I'm not sure where is this the only stairwell you have.

[00:18:48]>> No, we have a back stairwell.

[00:18:49]>> You have a back stairwell as well. Okay.

[00:18:51]>> Why don't we get Why don't we get uh backward? Why don't you go with one?

[00:18:59]>> Well, I'm not in you guys hang right here. Go ahead.

[00:19:06]>> Let me let me bring them into the >> All right. Excuse me, >> John. You want to come up and we'll take a look upstairs?

[00:19:11]>> Excuse me, sir.

[00:19:12]>> Sure. No problem.

[00:19:14]>> Couple guys stand here. We'll start at this end and then move this way.

[00:19:17]>> Okay.

[00:19:21]>> Yeah, I got a picture.

[00:19:23]>> We're just going to have to, man. That's the best we can do at this point.

[00:19:26]>> All right, guys. We just need to take a look in the room real quick. Okay.

[00:19:29]>> Uh, why?

[00:19:30]>> We need to come in, man.

[00:19:31]>> Excuse me, sir. I don't think you can put your hands on me.

[00:19:35]>> No, we thought it was him earlier, too.

[00:19:39]>> We do, man.

[00:19:43]>> Yes.

[00:19:48]>> Sorry about inconveniencing you. We'll be done here in a minute. All right.

[00:19:59]Take it down.

[00:20:12]>> What is that?

[00:20:14]>> Oh, yeah. Roof maybe.

[00:20:18]>> Hold it.

[00:20:19]>> Yeah.

[00:20:19]>> Is it Is that latched?

[00:20:21]>> I see like there's a cord there that might lift it up. So, >> hold on. the way she's been trying not to let me back here.

[00:20:34]>> Ma'am, can I talk to you real quick?

[00:20:36]>> Um, can we do it out here?

[00:20:40]>> Can we do it right here at this threshold, >> please?

[00:20:47]>> So, there's a ladder that goes up. We're going to check that real quick.

[00:20:50]>> Okay.

[00:20:51]>> That piece of wood was placed in front of that. A ladder. Was it like that before?

[00:20:55]>> Um, I don't know. Was the robotics course in front of the ladder earlier today?

[00:21:05]>> Yeah.

[00:21:08]>> Is there a chance he's up there?

[00:21:10]>> A kid up on the roof.

[00:21:12]>> Were you in here for lunch?

[00:21:16]>> Did anyone go in the closet?

[00:21:20]So, there's a chance that some random person you're looking for snuck in here in >> Oh, the door's locked. Usually >> doors aren't locked in school.

[00:21:28]>> How about this door right here?

[00:21:29]>> Not usually.

[00:21:32]>> Just let you know. I'll show you a picture of him. I told you who it is.

[00:21:36]>> No. Without doing all your homework first.

[00:21:39]>> You got the first, right?

[00:21:41]>> That's what we're looking for.

[00:21:43]>> Okay.

[00:21:43]>> Shot. He shot at his ex-girlfriend last night >> and her brother.

[00:21:47]>> Okay.

[00:21:48]>> In Lakewood. So, it's warrant for homicide. So, that's why we're here.

[00:21:51]Okay.

[00:21:52]>> Okay.

[00:21:53]>> So, uh they're putting the warrant together right now. The warrant. So, if you know where he's at, we'd appreciate you part of our issue.

[00:22:00]>> Okay. Well, I think that you guys need to come back on the warrant. Honestly, >> we we have the warrant, man. We just don't have a physical warrant. The Lakewood Detectives has the warrant.

[00:22:09]She's on her way here right now.

[00:22:10]accomodation driver.

[00:22:13]>> Oh, you can see that person is on this.

[00:22:16]>> Right. My question.

[00:22:17]>> I do not know if he was up there.

[00:22:19]>> Okay. Thank you.

[00:22:20]>> Are you the person in charge here?

[00:22:22]>> Yes.

[00:22:22]>> So, your officer that pushed me out of the way, >> can I have his badge from the police?

[00:22:27]>> And uh >> is that normal practice for Denver police?

[00:22:33]>> I didn't really see him push you out the way. I saw him go go by you. Push. Look at me. If he push you like that, that's something different.

[00:22:48]on the air at 1300.

[00:22:51]>> Yeah. 12 on top of the channel.

[00:22:57]>> Check clear.

[00:22:58]>> Roof check. Clear. All right.

[00:23:02]>> I think he busted cuz when we were all in the front when we first came in, >> they had plenty of time to cuz the teacher took off that I was talking to.

[00:23:12]The principal came upstairs.

[00:23:17]>> Yeah.

[00:23:30]I think you can go back in now.

[00:23:34]>> Either either way, whichever you prefer.

[00:23:36]>> Okay, I'll just go.

[00:23:38]>> Sorry about the >> that moment at roughly 5130 where a teacher says, "I don't think you can put your hands on me." deserves to be addressed directly. Under the Fourth Amendment, any physical contact by an officer must be reasonable in scope and proportional to the situation. In Graham versus Connor, the Supreme Court held in 1989 that the reasonleness of a use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene considering the severity of the crime, whether the suspect poses a threat, and whether the subject is resisting or evading. A teacher standing in a school hallway, not resisting, not threatening anyone, being physically moved by an officer is a moment worth scrutiny. The internal review that followed did result in a minor reprimand for one officer for insulting language about the staff, but the physical contact appears to have gone unressed.

[00:24:27]The teacher's instinct to ask for a badge number was exactly right. The search itself, authorized by Chief Eaton, limited to the school grounds, motivated by a credible safety concern, was likely lawful. The manner in which some individual officers conducted themselves along the way is a separate question. The Denver Police Department officers get a B minus. The underlying legal purpose of the search was legitimate. A potentially armed juvenile suspect in a school full of children is a genuine public safety concern, and the officers ultimately did the right thing by waiting for supervisory authorization before entering the building. But the path to get there was rougher than it needed to be. Telling a student outside that someone called about him acting suspicious is not reasonable suspicion.

[00:25:11]It is a hunch dressed up as a stop. And it was not the only moment in this footage where officers seemed to treat institutional authority as a substitute for legal authority. Radioing that the school was trying to hide the suspect before any evidence of concealment had been established was inflammatory and inaccurate. The physical contact with the teacher was unnecessary, and the tone throughout suggested officers who viewed the school's legal policies as obstacles rather than rights. The fact that both internal reviews found no wrongdoing except for the single language reprimand does not mean everything here was above board. It means the reviews were narrow. Principal Lucas Ketzer gets an A+. He followed the written policy of Denver public schools from the moment the officers arrived to the moment Chief Eaton gave authorization. And he did it calmly without escalating and without ever being physically confrontational. The district policy requiring parental presence during student interrogations is not a loophole. It is a protection designed specifically for situations like this one where a minor is the target of a law enforcement investigation and is on school grounds surrounded by adults in authority over him. Ketzer understood that surrendering a student without parental notification on demand in the middle of a school day would have been a violation of that student's rights, not a service to public safety. Once Chief Eaton arrived and exercised his authority to authorize the search, Ketzer stepped aside. That is exactly how the chain of authority is supposed to work. He enforced the policy until the policy no longer applied, and he did it without flinching. Chief Michael Eaton gets a B+. His arrival deescalated a situation that was beginning to spiral, and his decision to authorize a targeted search of the specific classroom rather than a blanket sweep from the start showed at least some awareness of proportionality. The authorization he gave was narrow, justifiable given the claimed safety threat, and consistent with what the Denver Post later confirmed was district policy for situations involving imminent risk. The question that remains unanswered is whether the same judgment would have been exercised if a less experienced principal had been on site.

[00:27:18]Eaton's authority exists to protect students and on this day it was used appropriately, but institutional authority that functions well only when challenged by a confident principle is a structural problem, not a clean record.

[00:27:31]Let us know if there's an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below. Thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe to Grade the Badge for police accountability analysis.