School police officer in Fontana under investigation for alleged violence against students

The Fontana Unified School District is looking into complaints against a longtime school police officer for allegedly punching a student and committing other violent acts, according to the Daily Bulletin.

The complaints came to light when a fellow officer wrote a letter to the superintendent about the behavior of his colleague, David Wibert, a detective in the school Police Department who is under consideration for a promotion, according to the newspaper.

According to the letter, Wibert threatened students, carried brass knuckles while on duty, slashed students’ bicycle tires and hit students.

School police Chief Lee Powell Jr. defended Wibert, who’s on leave pending the district’s investigation.

“Wibert is an outstanding officer,” Powell told the newspaper. “He comes to work every day squared away. He’s pretty outspoken, and a lot of people don’t like that.”

Fontana Unified came under fire in the early 2010s when it fired all of its school counselors and bought its police department 14 automatic weapons. It since reinstated its counseling department.