ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 23) - An attorney says he plans legal action against police officers who handcuffed an unruly 5-year-old girl after she acted up in her kindergarten class.
A video camera, which was rolling March 14 as part of a classroom self-improvement exercise, captured images of the girl tearing papers off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and punching an assistant principal before police were called to Fairmount Park Elementary.
Then it shows the child appearing to calm down before three officers approach, pin her arms behind her back and put on handcuffs as she screams, "No!''
Largo lawyer John Trevena, who provided the tape to the media this week after obtaining it from police, says the officers went too far.
"The image itself will be seared into people's minds when you have three police officers bending a child over a table and forcibly handcuffing her,'' said Trevena, who represents the girl's mother, Inga Akins.
"It's incomprehensible ... There was no need for that,'' he added.
ABC News
The tape shows the girl lashing out at a school employee.
Police declined to comment, citing an official complaint by Akins that has sparked an investigation by the supervisor of the four officers who were present. Two are new officers who were being trained that day.
Spokesman Bill Proffitt said the investigation would be complete in about two weeks and the findings would be made public.
The 30-minute tape shows assistant principal Nicole Dibenedetto trying repeatedly to calm down the girl, who ignores her commands and begins punching her.
The child's mother was called but wasn't able to immediately come to the school.
After being placed in the back of a police cruiser, police released the girl to her mother after prosecutors informed them they wouldn't bring charges against a 5-year-old.
Well my thing is...if I was her mom I woulda beat the sh*t outta her for acting out cause the girl was clearly bad as hell, but the police were way outta line for what they did and know good and well that if that was a white girl...they wouldnt did all that. I mean damn...she is only 5...what damage could she have really done without havin 3 cops holding her down to cuff her.
had the situation of been opposite(white kid black cops) the cops would have been fired, the kids parents and a thousand other folks would have been rallying against the school and the police dept.
but then truthfully,how many 5 year olds do you know who dont throw a fit every once in a while. yeah her mama should'a beat the black off her a$$, cause she was bad. but it doesnt take 3-4 adults to hold down a 5 year old.
What's bad about it is that she's not the first small BLACK child to be taken in handcuffs while at school. This doesn't need to become a common occurrence.
see now that is crazy...if that would have been my child they woulda had to have me handcuffed too for disorderly conduct...cause I woulda went off on they a**...
That was outragious. if a school principal can't handle her kids then she doesn't need to be there. then again that little girl didn't need to be arrested.......she needed her a$$ beat. her mother did too. acting like that in school. kids have no home training these days. still she was to young to be put in some handcuffs. there are little white kids that act up like that everyday in stores but you don't see little sally and little billy being arrested. thats bs!
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 23) - An attorney says he plans legal action against police officers who handcuffed an unruly 5-year-old girl after she acted up in her kindergarten class.
A video camera, which was rolling March 14 as part of a classroom self-improvement exercise, captured images of the girl tearing papers off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and punching an assistant principal before police were called to Fairmount Park Elementary.
Then it shows the child appearing to calm down before three officers approach, pin her arms behind her back and put on handcuffs as she screams, "No!''
Largo lawyer John Trevena, who provided the tape to the media this week after obtaining it from police, says the officers went too far.
"The image itself will be seared into people's minds when you have three police officers bending a child over a table and forcibly handcuffing her,'' said Trevena, who represents the girl's mother, Inga Akins.
"It's incomprehensible ... There was no need for that,'' he added.
ABC News
The tape shows the girl lashing out at a school employee.
Police declined to comment, citing an official complaint by Akins that has sparked an investigation by the supervisor of the four officers who were present. Two are new officers who were being trained that day.
Spokesman Bill Proffitt said the investigation would be complete in about two weeks and the findings would be made public.
The 30-minute tape shows assistant principal Nicole Dibenedetto trying repeatedly to calm down the girl, who ignores her commands and begins punching her.
The child's mother was called but wasn't able to immediately come to the school.
After being placed in the back of a police cruiser, police released the girl to her mother after prosecutors informed them they wouldn't bring charges against a 5-year-old.
Well my thing is...if I was her mom I woulda beat the sh*t outta her for acting out cause the girl was clearly bad as hell, but the police were way outta line for what they did and know good and well that if that was a white girl...they wouldnt did all that. I mean damn...she is only 5...what damage could she have really done without havin 3 cops holding her down to cuff her.
yeah...had it been one of thier own, they just probably would have given her a little talkin to or some crap like that...even though she was out of control...they wouild have found a different way to restrain her...but since she was black, she was seen as an animal...some baby animal or monkey or soem sh!t like that....so why not just handcuff her...i mean it up?
man if yall don't know st peteresburg police, they make cincinatti and LA cops look like the naacp protection force...there have been riots as recent as 2002 in the black community because crap these dudes try to pull and get away with...i'm from tampa so i know not to be hanging out anywhere white in pinellas county after a certian time...police on that side of town will stop you and ask you all sorts of questions just to make you feel uncompherable (sp)....yeah tampa bay is racist as hell...it's a darkest secret :grin: 8-) (nessa)
I think what is saddest is that on some of the boards I visit there are actually people who condone this. They say the child needed to be taught a lesson.
I think it's ridiculous and when I saw the video I was outraged for the child as well as the mother.
She threw a tantrum, but the tantrum was over when the police arrived. She was obviously calm and had respect for their authority.
The 3 of those bastids pulled her out of a chair and cuffed her while she screamed.
It was awful to witness, and I'm glad the mother is suing them.
