MIAMI -- Dozens of students were arrested after a South Florida high school brawl in February. On Tuesday, police released surveillance from the school's campus that day.Prosecutors said they examined images from 10 cameras set up around the Edison High School campus hoping they'd provide evidence.
Police made 26 arrests after a student protest on campus turned violent.Surveillance cameras shooting still images every few seconds showed a large crowd gathering on a covered plaza at Edison. Students said they were protesting an assistant principal's disciplinary methods.Within minutes, scores of police cars can be seeing pulling up out front. A security guard in Edison's lobby tried to keep other students inside and away from the mayhem outside.In the surveillance tape it's difficult to make out who's doing what to whom. Prosecutors said the tape is useless to them to sort out legal charges.Cameras switch every few seconds. Sometimes 20 seconds or more elapse between shots of the same scene."Since they were choppy by nature, they don't provide the continuous action we would need," a prosecutor said. "So they were of little help in this situation."Some of the images are dramatic, showing police pushing students back. Officers are eventually seen bursting into the school lobby and rescue crews removing someone on a gurney.There are plenty of photos of arrests being made. Charges have been dropped against 21 of the 26 people arrested that day.Officerswere unable to substantiate specific claims against specific defendants. Students have been protesting since that day when, they say, police created a crisis.Only one case, against a 15-year-old girl accused of striking a school police officer on the lip, has made it into court. Prosecutors are still reviewing four others.After hours of studying the images made by security cameras, authorities said they'll be no help at all in sorting out the chaos at Edison High School.One of the five remaining students facing charges in the fight will be facing a judge on Wednesday.
