Arrests R Us: Six-Year-Old Cuffed And Tossed Into A Cop Car For 'Throwing A Tantrum' At School

from the arewethebaddies.gif dept

America's least valuable renewable resource is school resource officers. At some point, we -- as a nation -- apparently agreed school disciplinary issues should be turned over to law enforcement officers. To be sure, this decision was made without our input, for the most part. Most people agree it's ridiculous to turn rote violations of school policy over to men and women trained in the apprehension and investigation of actual, real crimes like homicide, drug distribution, and any number of day-to-day activities carried out while black.

What have we received in return for being forced to part with our souls in exchange for the rare occasions where serious criminal acts occur on school grounds? An endless supply of outrage and disgust, which is the renewable resource no one asked for. What is our take-home from this involuntary exchange?

I don't know.

Do you love a parade? Because this is one of the most horrible:

The saga continues. Schools are giving police the power to arrest students for doing things that used to be handled with in-school suspensions, direct conversations with parents, and other school disciplinary processes.

It's not getting better/
It's not getting better, man/
It's just getting old.

Kaia Rolle was sitting, listening to a school employee read her a story when two officers came in the room to arrest her.

“What are those for?” the 6-year-old girl asked the Orlando police officers.

“They’re for you,” Officer Dennis Turner said about the zip ties, before another officer tightened them around her wrists. Kaia immediately began weeping.

CUT TO: Officer Dennis Turner lifts his "Children's Tears" mug to the camera, owning every lib in sight. School employees stand by idly, watching this six-year-old criminal being slung into the back seat Officer Turner's cruiser and into the wheels of justice.

Sickeningly, Officer Turner is pretty OK with arresting kids. It's all part of the job.

He told them he had arrested 6,000 people in his career — the youngest, to that point, was 7. When school employees told him Kaia was 6, not 8 like he thought, he did not seem concerned.

“Now she has broken the record,” he said.

May God have mercy on his soul. I mean, that's what someone far more charitable than me would say. I'm more aligned with his fellow officers, who were not at all cool with seeing Officer Turner's personal record being broken.

Orlando police Officer Sergio Ramos called his supervisor from Lucious & Emma Nixon Academy in September, to express his concerns after placing 6-year-old Kaia Rolle the back of his patrol SUV, where she sat with hands bound behind her back in zip ties.

“Sarge this girl is tiny,” he told Sgt. Douglas Andreacchi. “She looks like a baby.”

Two officers tried to prevent this student from being arrested. The only "crime" alleged was throwing a tantrum and hitting a teacher. For that, Officer Turner cuffed her and booked her. There's some good news, though. The six-year-old is no longer facing criminal charges. (Dear god, the fact that that sentence even needs to be written…). And Turner is out of a job.

Turner was fired shortly after the arrest for not getting the approval of a watch commander to arrest someone younger than 12.

But that good news is tempered by Turner's own statements, where he declared he had arrested students as young as seven, which would have broken the same rules that got him fired for this arrest. That means his employer -- the Orlando PD -- doesn't act to enforce its own rules unless an arrest generates headlines all over the nation.

Meanwhile, in Dekalb County, Georgia, police "misidentified" an 11-year-old black girl as a grand theft auto suspect. Cops cuffed her and repeatedly ignored her mother's offer of proof that her daughter had been home all night, rather than out trying to steal cars.

And here's where home surveillance product purveyor Ring comes in. Cops seem to love Ring cameras and their footage… but apparently only when the footage gives them permission to do the things they wanted to do all along.

[Cynthia] Hendricks not only explained to the officers that her daughter couldn’t have been involved because she’d been home since 4 pm, she even provided the officers with video evidence from her Ring doorbell and other motion cameras from around the house as proof that London had entered the house and hadn’t left at the time of the alleged car theft attempt.For whatever reason, the proof Hendricks provided failed to dissuade the officers from handcuffing and detaining her daughter.

The cops only let her go after finding out she was only 11, instead of 16 like the suspect they were actually looking for.

Why kids?

Counterpoint: why not?

They're smaller, easier to intimidate, and far less likely to put up resistance. Any statements made by parents and legal guardians are easier to discount because any parent would say anything to save their child.

Cops like these ones are sloppy cowards who can't be bothered to get facts straight or access any deeply-buried well of common sense/restraint. A criminal is a criminal, even if the criminal is six and is getting arrested for doing things six-year-olds do… like throw tantrums.

When you hand over students to cops, you cannot stand by and pretend to be shocked when they treat every rule violation like a criminal violation. If you don't want to see six-year-olds cuffed by cops, the solution is simple: DON'T CALL THE COPS. There's plenty of blame to spread around here, but a lot of it lies with the enablers of our society who feel parents are just co-conspirators in a massive underage criminal conspiracy. As for the second story, it's only the worst cops who ignore evidence that doesn't match their preconceptions. And there are far too many "worst cops" working the streets.

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Filed Under: 6 year old, arrests, kids, police, temper tantrums


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 1:45pm

    If you don't want to see six-year-olds cuffed by cops, the solution is simple: DON'T CALL THE COPS.

    Not so simple, going by the first sentence that said cops were already there. Whether or not anyone called them or wanted them there. So we need to get the cops out of schools, and then not call them.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ben (profile), 12 Mar 2020 @ 1:51pm

    Teacher? Staffer? Idiot?

    Who on earth thought it appropriate to either call the cops, or alert a cop who might already have been there, that the tantrum had happened. Surely that person also bears a significant portion of the blame rightly being handed around.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That One Guy (profile), 12 Mar 2020 @ 2:20pm

      Re: Teacher? Staffer? Idiot?

      They most certainly deserve to be fired as well, yes. If you can't deal with a six year old throwing a tantrum then you have no business in a job that involves regular interactions with children.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 3:51pm

      Re: Teachers_Staff

      although public school teachers/administrators generally come from the lower tier of college graduates, they are not idiots -- just properly cautious.

      these days, if a teacher or staff person lays a finger on any student -- they expose themselves to severe discipline from their school system and lawsuits from parents.

      smart thing to do if any level of "physical" intervention becomes necessary... is to call in the local prison-guard ("school resource officer") to muscle the kid at that SRO's total discretion.
      (teachers/staff then cower in the background, afraid to intervene)

      School LEO's are much less vulnerable to disciplinary procedures and personal lawsuits.

      note also that SRO's are never the best & brightest in the local police force -- they are usually low end retirees, mildly disabled, or those that can't handle normal fulltime police work.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 5:41pm

        Re: Re: Teachers_Staff

        "although public school teachers/administrators generally come from the lower tier of college graduates"

        Interesting tidbit .. I would like to read more.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 6:35pm

      Re: Teacher? Staffer? Idiot?

      I blame this trend Cops arresting Kids entirely on every politician in office currently.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      me, 13 Mar 2020 @ 7:20am

      Re: Teacher? Staffer? Idiot?

      Exactly, the Administrator a/or teacher should be arrested for risk of in jury.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 10:20pm

        Re: Re: Teacher? Staffer? Idiot?

        Exactly, the Administrator a/or teacher should be arrested for risk of in jury.

        Or maybe the public needs to just shut the fuck up.

        All of this is caused by idiots demanding something must be done! Well guess what? They did something. Oh? It wasn't what you wanted? Well we have a zero tolerance policy for questioning the police, so you'd best come along quietly or you may just wind up dead.

        Cops = Thugs. Do not trust, do not rely on, do not interact with if at all possible. And for gods sakes, quit demanding bullshit be dealt with by a higher level of authority. Learn to deal with BS at your own level. Otherwise don't be surprised when your disproportionate plea for assistance to a higher power, that has other things to be worried about, creates a disproportionate resolution that takes care of the original plea and creates extra pain to punish you for bugging them.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Uriel-238 (profile), 14 Mar 2020 @ 2:01am

          "Something must be done"

          Keep in mind that much of the public still sees law enforcement as protect-and-serve responders who are supposed to be knowledgeable about how to manage anything that isn't a fire.

          We've been taught that Officer Friendly Is Your Friend since we were toddlers, that law enforcement is a career path little kids should aspire to, and that behind every squad car is a team of murder-solving, missing-person-finding, forensic-science-expert sleuths who are the backbone of US law enforcement.

          We know this couldn't be further from the truth. And our lower classes and minorities know this couldn't be further from the truth, but much of the US public still believes the propaganda.

          Maybe we should do better to train them. But for now they don't really know better.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Upstream (profile), 12 Mar 2020 @ 1:51pm

    When your only tool is a hammer...

    ...all of your problems start to look like nails.

    In the case of cops, their tools are guns, fists, pepper spray, and handcuffs.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 2:06pm

      Re: When your only tool is a hammer...

      Cop: "This deaf, dumb, and blind person didn't follow my orders. They therefore pose a threat (to my fragile) authority, so I shot him because he might have had a gun."

      IA: "We investigated thoroughly and fully clear the officer of any wrong doing. He followed standard procedure."

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 6:10pm

      Re: When your only tool is a hammer...

      The problem is departments only look for applicants willing to swing the hammer at any nail. Candidates that find such behavior unacceptable are weeded out during the interview phase of the process.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 6:41pm

        Re: Re: When your only tool is a hammer...

        Cop job interview: "Do you have any qualms arresting tots?"

        "Oh No, I don't have a problem with that."

        "Ok, Clock in fifteen minutes before 8:00 am tomorrow. I think you'll be a real asset here."

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Atkray (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 12:43pm

      Re: When your only tool is a hammer...

      I cannot overstate how much I hate having to mark this comment as insightful.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Peter, 12 Mar 2020 @ 2:10pm

    And the reason for cuffing is......?

    We keep hearing that the reason is policy which says all arrestees are cuffed "for officer safety". But what happens is that officers forget about the officer safety bit and cuff everything in sight because they can. That is how you end up with people who are unconscious, dying or even dead......and 7 year olds....in cuffs. And that is how you end up with dying people being looked down at by a collection of cops with no more concern than a shrug of the shoulders

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 6:05pm

      Re: And the reason for cuffing is......?

      You mean like this case. Unarmed Man, wearing headphones. Shot in the back by the police, DEAD and then was Handcuffed!!!! It's sickening. Then he got away with it like he did nothing wrong. How was that any type of threat??? Police today are afraid of their own shadow. He saw NO GUN, just assumed something. It's so disgusting.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mezvCg0A5c

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That One Guy (profile), 12 Mar 2020 @ 2:18pm

    'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

    I can't help but suspect that the scum in stories like this would fit right in with historical atrocities, carrying them out and/or enabling them with an indifferent shrug because after all 'it's the law' and 'I was only following orders'.

    To say that they have no business being given positions of authority is a massive understatement, but along with them every last damn teacher and/or school administrator who decided it would be a good idea to involve cops in school matters needs to be fired as quickly as possible as grossly unsuitable for the position. If your job is dealing with kids, in good moods or bad, and you can't actually do that then you are clearly not fit for the job and need to be replaced with someone who can actually do the job.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Anonymous Anonymous Coward (profile), 12 Mar 2020 @ 2:44pm

      Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

      To be fair, the 'resource officers' were probably placed in schools by school boards, and not the teachers or principles. It likely wouldn't have mattered if principles or teachers actually objected or not. Those school boards...elected, aren't they?

      I do like your characterization to historical atrocities. The Puritans and how they dealt with witches as well as the various Inquisitions propagated by the Catholic church come immediately to mind, though I am certain there are others.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Thad (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 10:24am

        Re: Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

        To be fair, the 'resource officers' were probably placed in schools by school boards, and not the teachers or principles.

        Oh, there definitely weren't any principles involved.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 10:43pm

        Re: Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

        In the state of Kentucky they've passed Senate Bill 1 in 2019 that mandates SROs for every school in the state by 2021. As an extra kick in the teeth, it's an unfunded mandate. So those SROs are being paid for out of their assigned school district's General Fund. Which has been cut multiple times over the years.

        But wait there's more! (Because of course there is....) The Kentucky state legislators are currently considering whether or not to also mandate (and still not fund) that the schools provide the SROs with three ammo clips. Because being able to kill an entire classroom before running out of ammo is important. Feel free to cue the "What if it get's stolen" comments below, not that they'll care at all.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 15 Mar 2020 @ 12:55am

          Re: Re: Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

          If I had my family living in Kantucky, I would immediately move out of that fucking state.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 15 Mar 2020 @ 12:56am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

            I misspelled it intentionally as a sign of DISRESPECT just so all of you wannabe English teachers know before you lay into me.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 2:43am

      Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

      "I can't help but suspect that the scum in stories like this would fit right in with historical atrocities, carrying them out and/or enabling them with an indifferent shrug because after all 'it's the law' and 'I was only following orders'."

      The Nürnberg trials created thousands of examples of this. The quality described of a person who would zip-tie a 6 year old child for throwing a tantrum is the same person who marches a group of shaven-headed prisoners into the shower room for "delousing" in a place like Auschwitz.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 8:46am

        Re: Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

        It took 25 hours and 58 minutes to Godwin the thread. Not bad.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Rocky, 13 Mar 2020 @ 5:42pm

          Re: Re: Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

          Making a comparison to how prison-guards acted during the Holocaust isn't to Godwin the thread. The whole point with Godwins law was to stop hyperbolic comparisons with Hitler and Nazis in general as a way to shut down a discussions.

          In this instance, the comparison of the actions of a cop and a prison guard is relevant since both did acts that any normal person would consider to be anathema.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            nasch (profile), 16 Mar 2020 @ 7:43am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: 'Her fault for not sitting in the back.'

            Making a comparison to how prison-guards acted during the Holocaust isn't to Godwin the thread.

            Godwin's Law states only that as an internet discussion continues, the probability of a reference to Nazis approaches one. SDM made such a reference.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 3:06pm

    6 year olds are generally considered incapable of committing a crime. In most places they can't even be tried as a juvenile.

    I would argue that the officer knew or should have known this, and he's likely guilty of false imprisonment.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 4:26pm

      Re:

      The police seem to get a free pass on every new atrocity due to not being informed that they can't do that to people.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 6:14pm

      Re:

      I would argue that the officer knew or should have known this

      Cops are increasingly - if not already very much - aware of the fact that they're not legally required to know the laws they're enforcing.

      Worryingly, they seem to be delighting in that fact with an almost vindictive glee.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:02pm

      Re:

      I was thinking KIDNAPPING if the child was taken from school before parents were notified. Now that child should have tuition to HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL in the Bank.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Blackstone, 12 Mar 2020 @ 4:31pm

    Fire and prosecute all idiots abusing their authority

    The cure is worse than the malady.

    Lawn odor is about it these days.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 5:43pm

    Do these officers have kiddie handcuffs or does one size fits all apply here?
    Oh, wait ... these were zip ties?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 6:27pm

      Re:

      Many of them do have kiddie size handcuffs, but they're not issued by the department (the fur lined ones almost never are).

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:04pm

        Re: Re:

        If you can even find fur-lined cuffs. They are always sold out!

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Dan, 12 Mar 2020 @ 6:43pm

    Rules...

    But that good news is tempered by Turner's own statements, where he declared he had arrested students as young as seven, which would have broken the same rules that got him fired for this arrest.

    According to what you quoted directly above this, Turner couldn't arrest anyone under 12 without authorization from his watch commander. Unless you have more information than you're sharing, you don't know whether that applies to the arrest(s) of the seven-year-old(s) or not.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That One Guy (profile), 12 Mar 2020 @ 7:16pm

      Re: Rules...

      Is seven lower than twelve? Because if so, yeah, the rule would have applied there as well, which means that given he was fired for drawing too much heat zip-tying a six-year old either he did have permission for doing the same to seven-year olds, or he didn't have permission but the parents of the seven-year old(s) didn't raise enough of a stink to get him fired then.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Peter, 13 Mar 2020 @ 2:37am

      Re: Rules...

      Today I learnt that <12 =/= 7

      Seems my maths teacher was wrong after all.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 7:39pm

    Hmmm I see the anti cop force is strong on this one. Not that I approve of handcuffing 6 y/o children.

    Maybe we should look for the root cause of the problem.

    I retired from a public school district. I was not a teacher I worked in IT I did support from the local sever to the desktop in preschool and k-12. I can tell you that discipline problems have grown.

    When I first started I'd see kids sitting in the hall way quietly doing work because they disrupted the class. A trip to the office meant someones parents were going to be called. That usually meant the student was going to face some form of discipline at home.

    When I left. A trip to the office just meant the kid would be sent back to the same class...no action taken. Detention was done away with. Failing a class didn't mean you had to repeat that year. It was pretty much a get as many asses in seats as we can manage and keep re testing til we meet the standard.

    A 2nd grade student assaulted a teacher by hitting her repeatedly in her groin while shouting "smash that pussy "

    Wonder where the kid picked that up?

    Parents are not doing their jobs when a 2nd grader acts like that.

    A 10th grade student actually decked a HS principal in the cafeteria.

    Wonder where they learned violence is an answer.

    Teachers were not going to get involved with a student acting like a monster. They knew the administrators wouldn't back them. Administrators knew the school board wouldn't back them. So who gets to bell the cat? The SROs. Not anything they were trained for. Not really anything they should have to do.

    And yet here we are.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Mar 2020 @ 10:29pm

      Re:

      You could have just stopped at the first sentence without typing all that "buh huh huh huh cops have it sooooo haaaaaard" copsucking, you know.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 12 Mar 2020 @ 11:45pm

      Re:

      "Hmmm I see the anti cop force is strong on this one."

      Yes. Are you expecting people to support this?

      "Maybe we should look for the root cause of the problem."

      There are multiple causes of the issue. One of them appears to be a cop who routinely arrests pre-teen children rather than deal with whatever situation is in front of him like a normal human being. Oh well, at least he's not shooting them for a change.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 3:02am

      Re:

      "Hmmm I see the anti cop force is strong on this one. Not that I approve of handcuffing 6 y/o children."

      It already tells us a lot of your general attitude that you respond to the cuffing of a 6-year old - and the rest of the list, above, with anything but outrage.

      You don't need to be "anti-cop" to react negatively to the fact that officers of the law apparently routinely traumatizes children in the formative years where they establish the behavior patterns which will guide them through the rest of their lives. One pattern of which will now be "fear and mistrust of police".

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Upstream (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 3:32am

        Re: Re:

        "fear and mistrust of police" is a healthy defense mechanism.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 7:49am

          Re: Re: Re:

          ""fear and mistrust of police" is a healthy defense mechanism."

          Only if you are in the US and happen to be guilty of Being Brown In Public.
          Or, apparently, a 6 year old acting like a 6 year old.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 14 Mar 2020 @ 4:21pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          One that's not required in most other developed countries...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 7:48am

      Re:

      Hmmm I see the anti cop force is strong on this one.

      That's because he handcuffed a 6-year-old. A cop thought of a 6-year-old as a threat. Let that sink in for a minute, because if cops view 6-year-olds as threats, they're not likely to do anything other than shit themselves and run in the other direction when faced with a real threat.

      Teachers were not going to get involved with a student acting like a monster. They knew the administrators wouldn't back them. Administrators knew the school board wouldn't back them.

      Then how exactly are they supposed to teach? If you're telling me a second grader can overwhelm a grown adult, then that person has no business owning a pet, much less being entrusted to educate children. If they can't control 2nd graders without involving police, then frankly, they're incompetent. And the same goes for 10th graders.

      Before you say anything else, if you were the parent of a 2nd grader that was being belligerent, would you feel so powerless you needed to call the police?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 7:55am

        Re: Re:

        "Before you say anything else, if you were the parent of a 2nd grader that was being belligerent, would you feel so powerless you needed to call the police?"

        Given the general trend of his post it's pretty clear that he might, in staggering disbelief that a six year old child did not come with preinstalled upbringing if I interpret it correctly.

        A certain type of parent just believes that the proper way to raise a child is to beat and intimidate it until bad behavior stops. Most rational people know for a fact that the only thing you manage to instill is the tacit understanding that violence is the answer to any question and might gives right.

        Then that child grows up to become a cop simply because no other occupation allows those childhood-ingrained "values" to be expressed so openly.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Toom1275 (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:23am

      Re:

      A 1st grade student was assaulted by a SRO ziptying her hands and frog-her marching her out of the school, falsely claiming her behavior at the time was "extreme" (she was sitting quietly and listening to a story after calming down) and lying that one of the teachers wanted to press battery charges.

      Parents are not doing their jobs when a grown-ass adult cop acts like that.

      Wonder where they learned violence is an answer.

      Teachers were not going to get involved with a SRO acting like a monster. They knew the administrators wouldn't back them. Administrators knew the school board wouldn't back them. Not anything they were trained for. Not really anything they should have to do.

      FTFY

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:08pm

      Re:

      CALL THE PARENTS not the cops.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    David, 13 Mar 2020 @ 2:53am

    She's lucky

    that President Trump has not yet passed an executive order that allows the use of torture for exacting confessions from criminal subjects.

    But maybe she could get reclassed as a terrorist for that purpose.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dickeyrat, 13 Mar 2020 @ 2:58am

    But, but...see. this is now Blump's Neue Amerika, and we only live in it. Blump's top-chop-cop, Billy Barr, says we OWE respect, submission and servitude to those Big, Brave Pig-Officers, who protect our precious asses from six-year-olds who might throw tantrums. After all, you never know what they might break! And too, what about those Big Brave Pig-Officers who courageously shoot and kill family pets, such as dogs that dare to BARK at Authority! (As covered sporadically here in Techdirt). Certainly they have earned our admiration, respect and honour! And when it all boils, we'd better keep up that respect, so that Billy Barr doesn't march us all to the Ovens!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Upstream (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 4:07am

      Re:

      Those who demand respect, don't deserve it.

      Those who deserve respect, get it and have no need to demand it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 7:56am

      Re:

      I wish I could say that was just dark parody. Except that it's as good a description as to what has really been going on as any. Let that sink in for a while.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Koby (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 6:28am

    Consequences

    We know that kids do not always behave properly, so once upon a time parents and teachers and other authority figures were free to discipline the kids. Nowadays, in our overly-litigious society, the kids have learned that certain adults have no power over them, so the kids behave like little monsters. I hate to say "I told you so". What is your solution to getting kids to behave in the classroom such that they don't disrupt the learning for everyone else?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 8:31am

      Re: Consequences

      Corporal punishment in school or at home did not stop juvenile behaviors, it did create some kids with authority issues and worse.
      Is your answer to all problems a swift kick in the ass?
      Do you respond negatively before understanding the situation?
      Is everyone out to get you?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:12pm

        Re: Re: Consequences

        The gov is going to force kids who are repeat offenders and disruptors into MILITARY schools and parents won't have a say in it. I'll bet anyone.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 15 Mar 2020 @ 10:49am

          Re: Re: Re: Consequences

          The government - lol

          Like the judge who took kickbacks for sentencing juveniles to particular 'rehab' centers?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 8:02am

    "...once upon a time parents and teachers and other authority figures were free to discipline the kids."

    Something we call "child abuse" today because the only thing you actually teach a child in those formative years by beating them is that might makes right and that violence is an acceptable answer to any problem.

    "What is your solution to getting kids to behave in the classroom such that they don't disrupt the learning for everyone else?"

    You might ask the majority of the civilized world which manages this just fine without actually having to torture fear, obedience, and a thirst to exert violence into the children?

    We have two generations of people who have grown up knowing that what you refer to is bullshit which should have been buried and abandoned in the 18th century. We know the effects on the children well because in todays society social services regularly has to rehabilitate beaten children from the belief that as soon as they grow up THEY will get to beat others instead.

    You referencing the dark ages, the roman concept of paterfamilias and chinese family law as desirable isn't earning you much credibility, I think.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:02am

      Re:

      A great many of those kids have grown up to have no understanding of their place in the world, no respect for authority and thinking that their entry-level position gives them the right to dictate to the senior management. They actually believe that they're special and everything around them should change to suit their taste. When you have two or more of them in the same place they inevitably disagree with each other about how things should be and drama ensues. They literally throw adult tantrums when they don't get their way.

      I don't think any of this "don't touch my precious snowflake" stuff in schools and elsewhere has done the world any favors. I'm not saying that spankings doled out by school principals was ever appropriate but detention and other non-capital punishments did a lot more good than harm. It's a shame they're no longer allowed thanks to litigious parents and I'm not at all surprised that schools had to hire real cops to handle unruly kids because the staff are no allowed to do so. It's also not surprising that we're reading articles like this one because US cops are universally assholes; Predictable outcome.

      "The good ol' days" are almost never really that good but we've definitely lost something in transitioning away from them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 11:04am

        Re: Re:

        Yeah, child abuse .... those were the days.
        Do you wear a Make Children Abused Again hat?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:15pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          All my teachers had paddles approved by the principal and boy they loved to use them. I should be sitting on a huge pile of cash.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    tom (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 8:36am

    Guess I am an outcast in this crowd. I saw the video of this 'arrest'. There was no violence during the process. Just the kid crying as she was hand cuffed with the ties and put in the car. Could be the first time she has faced consequences for misbehaving. If so, that is the real crime.

    Something so few that object to this have mentioned is from the source articles, the kid in question threw a tantrum and HIT a teacher. Why no outrage over an out of control kid being allowed to terrorize a class room with screaming and violence? If this kid had hit YOUR kid, would you be as outraged over the school and officer's responses? Probably not, based on the responses of parents whose kids are bullied, threatened, and assaulted in class.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:05am

      Re:

      The kid should be punished. But literally arresting a 7 year old for that? You can't seriously believe that was an appropriate way to deal with the situation. Put the kid in a small room by themselves while you go call their parents to come pick up their delinquent. Simple and effective, also doesn't scar the little kid for life.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Wendy Cockcroft (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:05am

      Re:

      You are, Tom. This is a child being a child but treated as an adult. The arrest was illegal. Yes, she threw a tantrum. .

      One time I was babysitting a five year old boy. I wanted to take a particular route home from school. He threw a tantrum, shouting, crying, and rolling on the ground. I let him. I did nothing to calm him, I just sat on a nearby wall and waited until he was finished. Then we took my route home. It was the first and last time he did that. Next, I took some tinned tomatoes, some onions, and a tin of sweetcorn and cooked them together. In another pot I boiled some pasta, then put the lot together and served them. Little Timmy didn't want it. "Okay, Timmy, but that's all there is, kiddo." He ate it up.

      You don't have to arrest and restrain a child who misbehaves, just be firm and don't give in. If they tantrum in a room where other kids are, remove them from the room and let them scream outside. Stand nearby, ready to intervene if they try to break things, but otherwise leave them to it. Once they realise it gets them nowhere they'll give up.

      Show me a kid who repeatedly tantrums and I'll show you how the parents and carers encourage it by indulging the kid or paying attention. The trick is not to. I only ever indulge kids who behave well and do as they're told.

      This has never failed me.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:17pm

        Re: Re:

        Where's the LOVE?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:21pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          If its all about your convenience, that will show up some day in that kid. Just how it manifests itself is anyone's guess.

          "Spare the rod, spoil the child" is misinterpreted I say, you should spare the rod and spoil your children. Love them to pieces!

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:22pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Give them a life they can be happy to look back on when you are dead and gone.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Uriel-238 (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:41pm

            He that spareth his rod hateth his son

            A liberal interpretation of the cruel parenting is that if you do as Solomon did and beat your son senseless, then he'll grow up ruthless as Rehoboam did, and rule with cruelty.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 11:56am

      Re:

      There was no violence during the process. Just the kid crying as she was hand cuffed with the ties and put in the car. Could be the first time she has faced consequences for misbehaving. If so, that is the real crime.

      Uh-huh. I'll tell you, I sure learned something the first time my parents had to tie my hands with a zip tie because they couldn't handle my behavior.

      Ow wait...I had parents that weren't moronic pieces of shit like that cop.

      If this kid had hit YOUR kid, would you be as outraged over the school and officer's responses? Probably not, based on the responses of parents whose kids are bullied, threatened, and assaulted in class.

      And your response to the problem is to handcuff a fucking 6 year old? That's how you fix it?

      Jesus fucking christ I hope you assholes who are defending this fuckhead cop never have kids of your own. Because if that's how you handle a problematic 2nd grader, then you suck as a parent.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 12:00pm

      Re:

      Why no outrage over an out of control kid being allowed to terrorize a class room with screaming and violence?

      If as an adult, you're "terrorized" by a 6 year-old, then you really do suck as an adult.

      What on earth would you call it if it were a 12 year-old misbehaving? A life or death crisis?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 12:19pm

    I hope the 6yr old and the parents get 10s of MILLIONS of dollars and everyone involved with this is hauled over the coals financially.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Uriel-238 (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 2:01pm

    A blue-sky idea

    Firefighters used to specialize in fires, but their quick response encouraged them to be called for other emergencies. As a result they became a more generalized response force and are now trained as first responders for matters paramedic and psychological. At least that's how it is in municipalities.

    Given that police forces will sometime have or defer to an SVU for those who were traumatized by sexual assault (now expanded any psychological trauma), maybe we should also have a children's unit that specializes in not just all the weird unruly things that kids can do, but things that guardians freak out over yet qualify as perfectly normal, exploratory behavior (e.g. playing doctor, or sexting).

    Because, to be fair, grown ups are just not prepared for all the crazy stuff kids can get into, and tend to overreact, whether it is when their authority is challenged for a good reason but by a small person rather than a lawyer; or when kids are trying to figure out how the differences between boy-bits and girl-bits will shape their position in life and society.

    Not that this is the time for newer police subdivisions. Precincts tend to act more like mobsters, and all efforts to reform them cause their unions to bite back hard. But maybe something to consider for after the revolution once we tire of police acting like bullies and beating / murdering / robbing people with impunity.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:26pm

      Re: A blue-sky idea

      I'm already tired of police robbing, bullying and murdering with impunity.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Uriel-238 (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:33pm

        "already tired"

        I think we all are. But not enough to commit to a lengthy mischief and sabotage campaign to get them to stop.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 14 Mar 2020 @ 5:56am

          Re: "already tired"

          Maybe a nation that has nothing left to lose would and by the looks of the petrol dollar taking a dive, soon they may have all the motivation they need.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            Uriel-238 (profile), 14 Mar 2020 @ 11:21am

            Nothing left to lose

            Historically, plague is a discontent force multiplier. If COVID-19 hits us harder than the Swine flu, it might compel an uprising.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    keithzg (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 2:14pm

    FTFY

    Cops like these ones are sloppy cowards who can't be bothered to get facts straight or access any deeply-buried well of common sense/restraint.

    I believe that should read

    Cops are sloppy cowards who can't be bothered to get facts straight or access any deeply-buried well of common sense/restraint.

    (I joke, somewhat, but the entire culture of policing is the fundamental problem here and desperately has to entirely change, and until it does I feel it's fair to blame all police officers for it.)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 13 Mar 2020 @ 9:27pm

      Re: FTFY

      Well maybe you should get a job as an English teacher and get paid to be a pain!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Wyrm (profile), 13 Mar 2020 @ 5:23pm

    For once, the following is appropriate:
    Next time you want to call the cops on children, pause and think of the children.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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