Bates College officials have decided to take away the batons carried by its security officers this week following a petition signed by 18 groups and 546 people.

The Sun Journal reports that the petition by the Bates Leftist Coalition and the Bates Restorative and Transformative Justice Coalition called for the removal of batons and handcuffs from the officers and opposed equipping them with body cameras.

The petition is the result of an altercation on March 5 where veteran officer, Dennis Skinner, tackled and handcuffed a first-year student who refused to identify himself.

Skinner was fired last week following an outside investigation.