LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The usage of pepper spray in an Aug. 24 incident in downtown East Lansing and subsequent departmental actions elevate moral issues for East Lansing Police and authorities, mentioned Davina Harm, director of presidency ethics on the Markkula Middle for Utilized Ethics at Santa Clara College.
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“The situation does raise some ethical questions — questions that go right to the heart of public trust,” wrote Harm in an Oct. 7 e-mail to six Information Investigates. “After we’re speaking about security, justice, and accountability, these aren’t summary concepts; they’re the muse of how communities relate to regulation enforcement. By strolling via this incident utilizing a transparent ethics framework, we are able to begin to unpack what actually occurred — not simply what was lawful, however what was moral.
6 Information Investigates supplied Harm with the physique cam footage and the police report from the Aug. 24 incident. Moreover, Harm was supplied with the East Lansing Police Division’s press launch from September 26 and safety footage from Dave’s Scorching Hen (above). She was requested to evaluate the entire proof from an moral perspective.
Screenshot of Lonnie Smith, 21, being peppered sprayed by East Lansing Police Officer Andrew Lyon on Aug. 24. The screenshot is from safety video from Dave’s Scorching Hen. It was obtained by ELPD on Sept. 16 and given to protection lawyer Jack Rucker, who launched it to six Information. (WLNS)
In her emailed evaluation, Harm laid out her technique for reviewing the proof.
“An analysis last night was made in two phases: first, examining the ethics surrounding the actions themselves,” she wrote in an Oct. 7 e-mail to six Information 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.”
Physique digital camera and safety footage
Harm started her evaluation by reviewing the movies.
“In an age when ICE operates with little accountability to the American people, local policing cannot afford to descend into that same moral and unethical void. Every individual has a right to life, safety, and due process,” Harm wrote. “Law enforcement officers have a duty to protect those rights — even for suspects — and to use force only as a last resort under ethical principles. Policing in all its forms should cultivate guardians, not gladiators. The ethical officer acts as a protector guided by discernment, restraint, and respect for human dignity — not an aggressor driven by dominance or fear. When bias, haste, or a warrior mindset replaces judgment, force ceases to be protective and becomes punitive.”
She then supplied this evaluation of the 4 movies from police physique cameras and the safety footage from the entry of Dave’s Scorching Hen.
“The footage released from officers’ body cameras offers only a limited perspective — a brief snapshot shaped by movement and proximity. In contrast, the continuous recording from the establishment’s surveillance camera presents a fuller reality. It reveals an officer charging into the scene and deploying pepper spray with little apparent understanding of the situation or the individuals involved — an action more reflective of aggression than discernment and stands in direct tension with the ethical obligations of law enforcement.”
Press launch and communications
The second step of Harm’s evaluation reviewed the ELPD’s launch of knowledge in late September. In that press launch, ELPD launched the physique digital camera footage from the Aug. 24 incident, however didn’t launch the safety video. The ELPD police report on the incident revealed the company obtained the safety footage Sept. 16, ten days earlier than the press launch.
Press Launch 09-26-25Download
“In this case, despite access to the establishment’s video footage and the clear details it revealed…officials chose to double down on questionable ethics by withholding the video from the public. Such actions are neither unusual nor accidental; they are often strategic,” Harm wrote.
“Bias in policing — whether in action or omission — undermines justice at its core. When selective information is released, it communicates that certain narratives and certain people are more credible than others. Ethical law enforcement must confront both explicit and implicit bias, ensuring that every person’s dignity is recognized and that truth, not image, governs public communication,” Harm continued.
East Lansing officers have declined to touch upon the information launch, the movies, or Harm’s evaluation.
Kath Edsall, vice chair of the East Lansing Impartial Police Oversight Fee, was supplied with Harm’s evaluation.
“I think that it supports everything that The individuals who have come to city council, who have spoken out, who have reached out to the Police Oversight Commission are saying that this is, I mean, I haven’t heard the term unethical used, but simply that it’s wrong, that it doesn’t build trust and that would align very closely with unethical,” mentioned Edsall.
