Chief: Handcuffing Girl (age 5) Not a Violation

[deadparrot]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Police officers committed an error of judgment when they handcuffed an unruly kindergartner at school in March but did not violate policy, the department's chief said Thursday.

Chief Chuck Harmon said the two officers who handcuffed the 5-year-old girl were reprimanded for minor errors in handling the situation, which gained worldwide attention when a videotape of the confrontation was released to broadcasters.

But Harmon said the officers were not punished for shackling the child, who had torn up a classroom and hit an assistant principal before the officers arrived.

Still, Harmon said, the officers should have done more investigation, explored ways to defuse the situation and allowed school officials to take the lead in handling it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050804/ap_on_re_us/handcuffed_girl

[Broken_Hero]

1. violate policy?

So does that mean its policy to handcuff 5 yr olds? It doesn't make sense. If a cop is in fear of his life, of a 5yr old girl, maybe its time for him to get into another line of work. And what happened to the three boys who instigated this fight? They threw water ballons and rocks at a girl, and the girl fights back, yet she is the one with handcuffs...America at its finest...GWB must be proud of this....

[NYC]

4. I think you are combining two separate stories.

This was the girl who misbehaved at school. Her teachers or the principal called the police.

I think the girl who threw a rock after being pelted with water balloons was around 10 or 11 years old, and that was a more recent event. They were considering charging her with a felony.

[Broken_Hero]

7. ack, you are right, that girl was 10

sorry...:)

[Broken_Hero]

8. Okay, i assumed it was both the same story, sorry.

Just read it on cnn.com. Its nuts, just because she was tearing up a class room, and punched an assistant teacher? ha, how big is this kid? maybe the NBA will draft the kid...ha. If they did that to my kid, i would sue the hell out of them also, morons, they should have done a lot of things different, but you can't change what happened.

[saigon68]

13. The Thug Police have these guys as Heroes

The Waffen SS

[SouthernDem2004]

17. Handcuffing was nothing to do with fear for ones life.

Fear for ones life is actually a catalyst for Deadly Force. Handcuffing is just restraining....

[ElectroPrincess]

2. You are forgetting the Primary Rule

We are living in Bush-World: Where the Military and Police do NOT ever make a mistake ... that means NEVER! Good Right Wing Authoritarian Citizens are NOT to be questioned. If you do question our blessed leaders, then you are aiding the terrorists.

Do not question authority citizen. That's the way to be a good American. Well, also offering up your children to fight and die in the oil wars is the ultimate in patriotism.

[bliss_eternal]

3. I wondered what the outcome of this would be...

...it seemed 'odd' to me that they would choose to hand cuff a small child. At the same time, I was relieved she wasn't tasered or even hit with a baton.

While these may sound extreme, in the line of duty, apparently it isn't beyond them to use these items, irregardless of age. If the person is or seems 'out of control' they are taught to do what they have to to ascertain control of the situation.

:eyes:

[noonwitch]

19. It's hard to picture a 5 year old totally out of control, but it happens

If you've got a kid who is a threat to others, sometimes the handcuffing idea, for a few minutes, may work. Cops are not child psychiatrists, in this situation they were called because the school couldn't deal with her and the parents wouldn't.

If the kid realized she was out of options once the handcuffs were on, then perhaps she immediately calmed down.

This kid probably has issues, and needs to be seen by a good pediatrician (not necessarily a shrink, but an older, experienced pediatrician, who has seen a lot of kids over the years). She doesn't need the stigma of being labelled mentally ill at 5, or medicated and set up for future substance abuse problems, but the parents need some help in dealing with her.

My sister had ADD as a kid and although she never had problems in school, she did at home. She says she remembers that she would pass a certain point and just be completely unable to stop her tantrum until she was physically exhausted. Considering how much energy she had, this usually took a while, so Mom resorted to hitting her with the wooden spoon. The handcuffs are better than that.

[bliss_eternal]

27. You're right,in that it was a tough situation for all involved.

My heart really goes out to the teachers these days--they have SO many issues to deal with.

I hope that the little girl is put in touch with a good pediatrician that can help the family, school and ultimately the little girl deal with her issues.

I'm sorry your sister had it so rough. I hope that she has a better handle on her ADD as an adult. :hug:

[Gman]

5. OMG! My granddaughter is 5 years old

I can't imagine the police handcuffing her. If they tried they'd have a helluva lot bigger trouble on their hands with me.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. It probably would have been ok to shoot her too.

Only they aren't going to "go there".

[carnie_sf]

9. Some policy nt

[Joseph Christ]

10. Did you see the video?

I'm sorry...but getting handcuffed was probably the only discipline that brat ever received. Hopefully it scared her into becoming a decent member of this society....because she surely wasn't headed in that direction before.

[melnjones]

11. It's one thing to physically restrain a child,

which happens all the time in schools out of necessity (even though it's sometimes technically illegal), but my concern is that if a child has already been handcuffed at age FIVE, she's not going to think being arrested later in life is such a big deal. We need to save serious punishment for when it is both really merited AND understood by the child, or else it will just be useless later on. I've worked with kids like that girl in an elementary school setting (quite enjoy it, actually) and I'd never even IMAGINE putting a five year old in handcuffs. When that whole thing happened, my coworkers and I were appalled, and we have a rough school with kids just like that. Just my thoughts though.

[WildClarySage]

12. So if the "only discipline" the child has ever received is severe

enough it will produce a more productive member of society? Hell, maybe they should have tasered her, then she could grow up to be president.

If that's her first dose of discipline, it is best meted with calmness and intentionality, not a police squad, the intention being behavior correction, not personality modification. But lets not fall into the easy trap of blaming the parents. Not all "brats" are due to bad parenting. And certainly abusing a child is not discipline, it's abuse.

My lawyer would be on the phone before the cuffs clicked shut, if it were my child.

[saigon68]

14. Hi JC

I'm sure you must know her family?

[fortyfeetunder]

15. I beg to differ, JC

Welcome to DU :hi:

Since you are a newbie, I want to mention this particular topic had about a week or two worth of fiery debate when the story first emerged.

I saw the video too, and I don't quite agree with your conclusion. I have been around 5 year olds, and I know one that did the same thing (tantrum in classroom, tearing up things) and the kid was NOT handcuffed. I think there was an undiagnosed mental health issue that wasn't dealt with.

There are age-appropriate discipline methods for small children with discipline problems. But handcuffing or Tasering aren't among the methods.

[oscarmitre]

16. When I saw the video I thought the cuffing

was inappropriate. I thought about the liability that must surely attach to the police for so doing. I thought about the fact that a child can't commit a crime in my jurisdiction (under 10) and then had a look at the Florida legislation and was surprised to see there is no minimum age of criminal responsibility.

[silvermachine]

21. And you know this how?

Yeah, her thug life is set at age 5 because of a school tantrum. I certainly hope you are not a parent.

[silvermachine]

22. And yes I saw the video...

I work in a library and have seen this type of behavior before. Handcuffing was never necessary.

[NashVegas]

24. The Trouble Is

No one in the situation seemed to know what was necessary. I saw the video, too, and the adults in the situation were as out-of-control as the child was. There comes a time when an adult has to make it clear to a kid, "I'm not putting up with any more crap." It doesn't have to be done in a violent or abusive way, it just has to be done. These adults failed to do this.

[lumpy]

26. I agree wholeheartedly.

The teachers were afraid to even touch her let alone use a strong voice. Who was in charge of the classroom? No one.

[lumpy]

25. Saw the video.

The teachers were afraid to even touch her allowing the kid to continue on her cooly silent tirade. She knew she had them over a barrel. Someone at that school should have picked her up bodily,removed her from the scene and made it clear she was to behave. Kids don't always respect marshmallows.

[bliss_eternal]

28. I did see the video.

While the child was indeed out of control, I don't think it is warranted to make assumptions about her upbringing or to call her a brat. Who knows what set her off or made her behave this way. None of us was there.

I'm a bit disturbed that you feel people, particularly small children need to be scared into becoming 'decent members of society.'
How do you know what direction she was headed in before, based on all of a minute's worth of videotaped footage. Unless of course, you know the child and are acquainted with her and her family?

[Hav]

18. .

At least they didn't use a Taser...aimed at the breast (duh) like it was done to another girl.

[soup]

20. Follow-up : Police rules change for cuffs on kids

St. Petersburg police list a strict code for how officers must deal with children under 8.

By ALEX LEARY and THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published August 5, 2005


ST. PETERSBURG - Police no longer will handcuff young children unless they are armed or considered violent, Chief Chuck Harmon announced Thursday.

Hoping to avoid the controversy and worldwide media frenzy spawned by the handcuffing of a 5-year-old girl in March, Harmon outlined strict new rules that limit what officers can do to children under 8.

> Under the new rules announced Thursday, dispatchers who take calls involving students in kindergarten through third grade must first ask if Pinellas Schools Police have been contacted. Superintendent Clayton Wilcox has directed principals at the district's elementary schools to do the same.

If school police have been reached, city police will not be sent except in "aggravating, extreme circumstances," according to the policy.

> Still, Harmon stopped short of an absolute ban on using handcuffs, even on very young children.

"If a child possesses a weapon or is totally violent ... or has drugs ... I'm not going to take that ability away from them," Harmon said. "Because securing the child is not only for the safety of the officer, it's for the safety of the child."
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/05/Southpinellas/Police_rules_change_f.shtml

also available at the above link:

Documents:
Police department memorandum on new policy
Police department investigation report

Related content:
Reaction to tantrum open to interpretation (4/28/05)
View video of classroom
View video of assistant principal's office, arrival of police
Superintendent Wilcox invites your comments
Letters to the Editor

[VegasWolf]

23. Handcuff the President, not babies. nt