[Ninong]

Police in Florida handcuffed a 5-yr-old girl: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/22/So...olice_ha.shtml

"After being placed in the back of a police cruiser, police released the girl to her mother after the State Attorney's Office informed them a 5-year-old would never be prosecuted."

I cannot think of any excuse for handcuffing a 5-yr-old child, can you? I wonder what John Ellis Bush has to say about this?

P.S. -- I just viewed segments of the video, both of the child "acting up" before the police were called and of the child sitting calmly in a chair when the police entered the room. The supervisory male police officer (there were two men and one woman) immediately informed the child that he had warned her mother the last time that she would be handcuffed the next time she misbehaved. The three police officers then removed the child from the chair, bent her over the table, pulled her arms behind her back and handcuffed her. She did not resist and was not acting up when the police arrived. She cried out only after she realized that her hands had been handcuffed. It was a very disturbing tape.

[schrocat]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Police in Florida handcuffed a 5-yr-old girl: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/22/So...olice_ha.shtml

"After being placed in the back of a police cruiser, police released the girl to her mother after the State Attorney's Office informed them a 5-year-old would never be prosecuted."

I cannot think of any excuse for handcuffing a 5-yr-old child, can you?

Sure.
If the kid is Hannibal Lecter.

But not for an outburst like this.

The supervisors knew the suit was coming, so they should have just denounced the officers actions a long time ago.

...whats up with "I can't come to the school right now" from the parent?

I'd be there quicker than that, if my kid was having the second police attended violent outburst of the school year.

[schrocat]

Originally Posted by schrocat

Sure.
If the kid is Hannibal Lecter.

But not for an outburst like this.

The supervisors knew the suit was coming, so they should have just denounced the officers actions a long time ago.

...whats up with "I can't come to the school right now" from the parent?

I'd be there quicker than that, if my kid was having the second police attended violent outburst of the school year.

Update:**

Ninong, I don't think the little girl calms down until she sees the cops.
The cops don't rush in, and are asking questions near the camera for a brief bit.
It's important because the teachers methods have been credited with calming the child, which isn't entirely true.

The police officers methods however, will probably be credited for enriching the childs parents.

[ricksreef]

ya and if the kid had smacked another kid during her tantrum,
those parents would be sueing the school system for not providing
a safe environment. the kid (and her parents) brought this on
herself. maybe she'll think twice now before being a little snot again.
i know when i was cuffed at 9 years old (funny ), it took me a
few years to become a punk again...

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by schrocat

Update:**

Ninong, I don't think the little girl calms down until she sees the cops.
The cops don't rush in, and are asking questions near the camera for a brief bit.
It's important because the teachers methods have been credited with calming the child, which isn't entirely true.

I don't think it makes any difference whether the 5-yr-old child was still acting up when the police arrived or not. For the sake of argument, lets assume that she was throwing a tantrum when the police walked into the room. I find it hard to believe that three trained police officers cannot restrain a 5-yr-old child without resorting to handcuffs.

I don't see the handcuffs issue as having anything to do with the other issues involved. I just think that police departments should have a policy that prohibits officers from handcuffing 5-yr-old children under any circumstances.

[schrocat]

Originally Posted by Ninong

I don't think it makes any difference whether the 5-yr-old child was still acting up when the police arrived or not. For the sake of argument, lets assume that she was throwing a tantrum when the police walked into the room. I find it hard to believe that three trained police officers cannot restrain a 5-yr-old child without resorting to handcuffs.

I don't see the handcuffs issue as having anything to do with the other issues involved. I just think that police departments should have a policy that prohibits officers from handcuffing 5-yr-old children under any circumstances.

I'm not saying their actions were justified.
Just that the teachers methods, (which I found to be a little soft since I attended Kindergarten in '71) did not calm the child as credited in some reports.
Johnny Law outside the window calmed her.

[patandreba]

I saw that clip of the kid on the news, talk about a getting into sh*t machine. I kind of blame the parents for this one. Even at 5 years old, my kid's had a lot more discipline than that. From what I saw, the kid couldn't help herself, and had to tear things off the wall and get into everything in reach. Don't think time out would have fixed it since she couldn't sit still even when the teacher picked her up. From what I saw, maybee a straight jacket would have been more suitable, but I know what would have happened to me if I acted like that in school, as my parents would have come to get me, they would have been humiliated that I acted that way, and a series of spankings would have ensured that it never happened again. Some people think that it isn't right to spank your kids, and that you shouldn't instill fear into your child, but hey, fear of a ticket is the only reason I don't do 80 to work every morning. Just my oppinion, but I do agree that that kid needed some sort of restraint, and if she had been disciplined properly from the start, I doubt the incident would have taken place at all.

[marxsman]

This is a case where perception is the factor. As a Cop I believe the other Officers did do thier job. They gained compliance and NO ONE was injured.

We do not know all the circumstances of the situation. You believe what you see. That's not always the case. We as the viewing public did not see the whole situation. We also do not know if this 5 yr old has a past history of being assaultive. (i know a 5 year old isn't going to hurt an adult) but if the school is calling the police there is a good reason. Teachers are supposed to be able to diffuse the situation before it comes to this.

Also if there is anyone person to blame it is the parent. If the child is disciplined at home there would never be this problem at school.

I know if I acted up at school, I would rather deal with the cops than my father!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by marxsman

We do not know all the circumstances of the situation. You believe what you see. That's not always the case. We as the viewing public did not see the whole situation. We also do not know if this 5 yr old has a past history of being assaultive.

We know that the child was throwing a tantrum. We know that the police were called to the school on at least one previous occasion for the same child.

We know that the police handcuffed a 5-yr-old child and placed her in a police cruiser with the intention of taking her to the cop shop to be booked. That last part is hard to believe and perhaps it was overstated but that's the way it was reported. It was reported that the police were diverted to the mother's house only after the prosecutor told them they would not press charges against a 5-yr-old child.

I don't believe anyone disputes the fact that the child is disruptive and that her parent(s) are ultimately responsible for her behavior.

It appears that I may be in the minority here but I don't believe handcuffing a 5-yr-old child and transporting her in a police cruiser is appropriate procedure in such situations.

If it is acceptable to handcuff a 5-yr-old girl, is it also acceptable to handcuff a 4-yr-old? What about a 3-yr-old? Or a 2-yr-old? Two-year olds can be terrible at times, should they be handcuffed?

It just strikes me as odd that police departments do not have a written procedure on the use of handcuffs. Maybe they do. Maybe their procedure recommends the handcuffing of children no matter how young they are if they are disturbing the peace???

[schrocat]

If the cuffs are placed for transport safety issues, I don't know where you draw the line. Probably by keeping kids from being transported in cruisers.

I became jaded around the time a 5 year old child in our community pulled a knife on a kindergarten teacher.
A kid like that would pose serious transport issues, and could pose a threat to themselves.

I'm with the State decision! -go figure.
They dropped the charges!! Party!!
"Nothing to see here folks...keep moving"

[marxsman]

After all this I do believe it was more of a scare tactic. (not a good one) I think that the cop's intentions were to scare the child. So not to act up or there will be consequences. However I also believe that a child is a child let them be unless they do pose a threat to themselves or others.

i do not know the law where this took place but I know where I live (CO) a child under the age of ten CAN NOT commit a crime, therefore should never be placed into handcuffs and never transported to the station the be booked.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by marxsman

After all this I do believe it was more of a scare tactic. (not a good one) I think that the cop's intentions were to scare the child.

Yes, that seems obvious from what the supervisory officer said when he first walked into the room. In addition, there is the complicating factor that he was a training officer with two rookies that he was training.

One of the TV News programs claimed that the police wanted to book the child and hold her in custody overnight. I assume they would have had to turn her over to child protective services. If that is true, that adds another absurd dimension to the whole story. They were instructed that charges could not be brought against a 5-yr-old and that they should therefore turn her over to her mother immediately.

Maybe "child abuse" was a bit too strong a term to use for this situation but I think it was a case of poor judgment on the part of the supervisory law enforcement officer.

[marxsman]

I am not taking sides in this issue but mearly stating my opinion. I have been in several situations when a child has to be physically restrained for their safety. I have never put handcuffs on a child but I have had to pull them out of traffic and break up fights. ( as young as 4 yrs old) it's not fun and there is always someone thats going to criticize my actions no matter how fair and just I was. It is a hard line of work and I hope I always (and other Officers) make the right choice to save and protect lives.