--- description: UC Davis paid a PR firm at least $175,000 after controversy over a police officer spraying student protesters with pepper spray title: UC Davis Paid Consultants $175K to Remove Pepper Spray Images From Google image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f1798be6d3c137e/69888f25cf40a839afc42d1f/uc-davis-pepper-spray.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # UC Davis Paid Consultants $175K to Remove Pepper Spray Images From Google  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 14, 2016 2:39 PM CUT  A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an "Occupy UCD" demonstration in Davis, Calif. on Nov. 18, 2011. A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an "Occupy UCD" demonstration in Davis, Calif. on Nov. 18, 2011.Brian Nguyen—Reuters  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 14, 2016 2:39 PM CUT The University of California, Davis paid a public relations firm at least $175,000 to help restore its reputation after controversial images of a university police officer [spraying student protesters](http://abcnews.go.com/US/occupy-uc-davis-pepper-spraying-cops-suspended/story?id=14992787 "undefined") with pepper spray made headlines in 2011, according to a [report](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article71674767.html "undefined"). The university first hired Maryland public relations firm Nevins & Associates in 2013 at a fee of $15,000 per month, according to a _Sacramento Bee_ [report](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article71674767.html "undefined"). The newspaper received copies of the company’s contract with the university after a public records request. Nevins & Associates agreed to help scrub records of the incident from Google search results and consult with the schools chancellor on “brand enhancement,” according to the report. A quick Google search [shows that the images of the incident are still readily available](https://www.google.com/search?q=uc+davis+pepper+spray&espv=2&biw=1656&bih=896&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil6dzyrI7MAhXC7D4KHSLgBz8Q%5FAUICCgD "undefined"). \[[_Sacramento Bee_](http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article71674767.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4293836/uc-davis-pepper-spray/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4293836/uc-davis-pepper-spray/"},"headline":"UC Davis Paid Consultants $175K to Remove Pepper Spray Images From Google","datePublished":"2016-04-14T14:39:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:45:09.900Z","description":"The firm agreed to help scrub records of the incident from Google","url":"https://time.com/4293836/uc-davis-pepper-spray/","keywords":["California"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f1798be6d3c137e/69888f25cf40a839afc42d1f/uc-davis-pepper-spray.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f1798be6d3c137e/69888f25cf40a839afc42d1f/uc-davis-pepper-spray.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an \"Occupy UCD\" demonstration in Davis","caption":"A University of California Davis police officer pepper-sprays students during their sit-in at an \"Occupy UCD\" demonstration in Davis, Calif. on Nov. 18, 2011.","creditText":"Brian Nguyen—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4293836/uc-davis-pepper-spray/","name":"UC Davis Paid Consultants $175K to Remove Pepper Spray Images From Google"}}]}] ```