Clark County School District pays $1 million after Lt. Jason Elfberg violently attacked Jordan Garrett for recording police encounter
On February 9, 2023, Lieutenant Jason Elfberg of the Clark County School District Police Department violently slammed student Jordan Garrett to the ground, knelt on his back, and handcuffed him—all for the “crime” of recording a police encounter on his phone. Fellow student Jakhari Ford witnessed and recorded the brutal attack outside Durango High School.
The incident, triggered by a false report of students with firearms, has resulted in a $1 million settlement for the families of Garrett and Ford, exposing serious flaws in school district policing and institutional accountability.
The Attack: When Recording Police Becomes a Crime
Lieutenant Jason Elfberg responded to a report claiming students wearing blue medical gloves near Durango High School were possibly armed. The report contained no visual confirmation of actual weapons—just speculation based on students wearing medical gloves. When Elfberg and other CCSD officers approached the group of students outside the school, they claimed they believed they saw what looked like a firearm handle in one student’s pocket. Searches revealed no weapons on any of the students.
As the confrontation unfolded, Jordan Garrett began recording the police interaction on his phone—a constitutionally protected First Amendment activity. This act of documenting police behavior would make him the primary target of Lt. Elfberg’s violent assault.
Body camera footage, later released after extensive legal battles, documented the unprovoked attack. Elfberg aggressively yelled expletives at the students, grabbed Jordan Garrett and violently slammed him to the ground, then knelt on Garrett’s back while handcuffing the unarmed student. Throughout the assault, Elfberg shouted at other students, including Jakhari Ford, to “back the f* up” despite them standing several feet away and not interfering.
The attack on Garrett lasted several minutes and was entirely unjustified—the student posed no threat and was simply exercising his constitutional right to record police activity. After the violent assault, both Jordan Garrett and Jakhari Ford were temporarily detained, then released without any charges. No weapons were ever found, completely undermining any justification for Elfberg’s aggressive tactics against the minors.
The Cover-Up: ACLU Forces Release of Damning Footage
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada led the charge for accountability, filing public records requests and ultimately suing CCSD for the release of bodycam footage. The district’s initial resistance appeared to be an attempt to suppress evidence of officer misconduct, claiming concerns about images of minors.
When the footage was finally released in early 2024 following a court order, it confirmed witness accounts of Lt. Elfberg’s unprovoked attack on students exercising their First Amendment rights. The release sparked immediate public outrage, including protests led by parents, students, and civil rights organizations with widespread calls for Lt. Elfberg’s termination and demands for broader police reform within CCSD.
Despite overwhelming evidence and public pressure, CCSD failed to discipline Lt. Jason Elfberg. The Clark County School District Police Officers Association defended his actions, claiming he acted to maintain safety in a “volatile” situation—a characterization completely contradicted by the video evidence showing peaceful students being brutalized for recording police.
The Settlement: Million-Dollar Payout, Zero Accountability
In January 2025, the Clark County School Board approved a $1 million settlement for the families of Jordan Garrett and Jakhari Ford. While providing financial compensation, the settlement highlighted the district’s preference for monetary resolution over meaningful reform. The ACLU of Nevada emphasized that while the settlement avoided protracted litigation, it also demonstrated the district’s attempts to conceal officer misconduct rather than address underlying issues.
The lack of disciplinary action against Lt. Elfberg reveals a system more concerned with protecting problematic officers than ensuring student safety. This institutional failure undermines public trust and perpetuates a culture of impunity where officers can brutalize students with no consequences.
The Broader Crisis: When School Safety Becomes Student Assault
This incident represents a disturbing trend of law enforcement officials violating students’ fundamental rights, particularly their ability to record police activities. The attack on Jordan Garrett for exercising his First Amendment rights sends a chilling message about accountability in educational settings.
Beyond the $1 million settlement, this incident carries significant costs including erosion of community trust in school safety measures, psychological trauma inflicted on students, legal precedent enabling future misconduct, and taxpayer burden for preventable police violence. The Durango High School incident demonstrates the urgent need for enhanced police training on constitutional rights, robust oversight mechanisms for school district officers, clear accountability measures for misconduct, and community input in school safety policies.
Conclusion: Justice Denied, Taxpayers Pay
Lieutenant Jason Elfberg’s violent attack on students at Durango High School represents everything wrong with unchecked authority in educational settings. His actions—captured on body camera and resulting in a $1 million settlement—expose the dangerous intersection of excessive force and institutional protection.
The absence of weapons, the targeting of students exercising constitutional rights, and the subsequent cover-up attempts reveal a system fundamentally broken. While the settlement provides some measure of justice for the affected families, Lt. Elfberg’s continued employment and the lack of systemic reform suggest that similar incidents remain inevitable.
This case serves as a stark reminder that true accountability requires more than financial settlements—it demands institutional change, officer discipline, and a commitment to protecting the very students these systems claim to serve. Until CCSD and similar districts prioritize student rights over officer protection, the cycle of abuse and cover-up will continue, with taxpayers footing the bill for preventable misconduct.
The message is clear: when school safety becomes student assault, everyone loses—except the officers who escape consequences for their actions.