The report, compiled by a task force led by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, concludes that the university could have done more to prevent the incident.

“Our overriding conclusion can be stated briefly and explicitly,” the report stated. “The pepper spraying incident that took place on Nov. 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented.”

The report condemned the actions of several individuals, including UCD Police Chief Annette Spicuzza and more directly, Lt. John Pike — the on-duty officer who was filmed spraying the protesters with pepper spray as they blocked a pathway. Videos of Pike went viral last year, and he has widely been considered the face of the pepper spray incident.

The report also found that UCD Chancellor Linda Katehi could have been more proactive in the planning phases of handling of the protests.

The latter portion of the report outlines recommendations for university policy changes that would prevent similar events from occurring. The bulk of the recommendations consist of UCD setting up more structured dialogue with student leaders to work together during future discrepancies. 

It is also recommended that UCD administrators set up an “office hours” model for becoming more accessible to concerned students. 

The report, which was released in a downloadable format on April 11, had been completed and slated for release in early March. UCD Police had filed for an injunction against the release in early March, fearing that some officers’ privacy would be breached. 

On March 28, California Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo ruled that the report could be released as-is immediately, pending appeal. When no appeal was filed, the task force proceeded with the release.

UC President Mark Yudof released a statement on April 11 saying he looked forward to working with UCD and Chancellor Katehi to prevent similar incidents from happening.