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.
IT'S SAD BECAUSE THIS IS THE SAME SCHOOL, FAIRMOUNT PARK ELEMENTARY, WHERE JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO A LITTEL BOY RAN OFF CAMPUS INTO TRAFFIC AND WAS STRUCK BY A CAR. THIS SCHOOL DOES NOT HAVE A GOOD REP DOWN HERE. THE TEACHERS CAN'T CONTROL THE KIDS AND THEY DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE KIDS. PROBABLY BECAUSE EIGHTY PERCENT OF THE SCHOOL IS BLACK.
Lol ok I havent posted cuz I thought this ****was funny...
Not funny because they arrested her lil bad ****
But funny cuz the lil bad **** got the police called on her
Can you imagine being in that classroom watching it....
I just broke out laughin like...
" Look at shaquita bad ****" :razz: breaking all the crayons and shyt..."
**** oh ****I **** myself
For the record, I plan to go into education after college. And I strongly believe that if you dont know how to handle a 5 YEAR OLD without the police, YOUR BEHIND NEEDS TO FIND A NEW CAREER.
I saw that joint on Current Affair. Her lil bad **** deserved it
...no FIVE year old deserves to be handcuffed over a tantrum!....i doubt u'd feel that way if three men arrested your five year old
MissJazzyAKA wrote:
How come they don't do that to those kids on nanny 911?!
..i know thats right....some of those kids...if they were mine id give them up for adoption :???:
If you saw the tape u kno she deserved it.... She was breakin shyt. Knockin stuff off the wall. The teacher tried to stop her and she started hittin the teacher. She needed some type or punishment. Aint like they Rodney Kinged her. They just gently put on the cuffs. They aint arrest her like they do grown people.
little kids do that all the time....ALL the time....kids of all colors....
for 5 years old...they damn near Rodney King'd her...THREE cops...on ONE little girl?!?! c'mon now....i've seen TEACHERS handle little bad children like that better....cops weren't even necessary....
& it doesn't help that two of the officers were being trained that day :???:
i'd like to think that 3 vet cops would've known better....i'd LIKE to think...but not even that is certain....
bottom line, that was too much....wouldn't have been my child actin' up like that in the first place 'cause she would've known better...but even if it were, that police department would be hearing me loud & clear right now....
My boss and I were just talking about this. That whole situation was a damn shame. Like ya'll said that little girl just needed her **** whipped and the police were not called for. They call it the Zero Tolerance Policy, but what kills me is that it is only active in schools that are majority minority. And the staff at that school need to fired for not knowing how to handle a five year old. Why the hell are they working at a school if they can't handle children? :-s Cause if they can't handle a five year old then they damn sure can't handle an 7th or 8th grader. :???:
When something this serious goes down, amazingly it is in the black neighborhood :???: . That's just blatant racism. Now where are the so called black leaders of America when you need them? Jesse? Al? Let's see how long it takes them to get on a real case.
say what u want about me, that Sh*t was FUNNY
p.s. i dont think it was about race tho, i think it was about a bad **** kid who has no control by her parents or her teachers
and whose fault is that. i dont think the little girl is at fault. it's her parent's fault that girl acts like that. she shouldn't have gotten arrested. that was just way to extreme. like someone has said before, them little white kids on Nanny 911 or Super Nanny be acting worse than that...
say what u want about me, that Sh*t was FUNNY
p.s. i dont think it was about race tho, i think it was about a bad **** kid who has no control by her parents or her teachers
and whose fault is that. i dont think the little girl is at fault. it's her parent's fault that girl acts like that. she shouldn't have gotten arrested. that was just way to extreme. like someone has said before, them little white kids on Nanny 911 or Super Nanny be acting worse than that...
And the staff at that school need to fired for not knowing how to handle a five year old.
Her mother specific told them, that she didn't want them putting their hands on her daughter. That's the reason why the principal and teacher wouldn't touch the little girl because her mother had told them that she didn't want them too. The cops had been up to the school the week before over the same little girl because if you listen to the video, you will hear the cop say something, "last time, if this happened again, you would get handcuffed" or something. Her mother is already happy to **** but what the hell is she trying to do improve or change this little girl attitude?
Now, everyone is taking the blame off the little girl and putting on the principal and teacher. I agree, the handcuffs were way overboard but come on now, in this day in age, if they did touch the little girl, her mother would be screaming bloody murder bout they touched her baby when she was acting out etc etc. They were damned if they do, damned if they don't. I wonder if i'm ready to put up with these no account parents when I start teaching in a few years...sigh
And the staff at that school need to fired for not knowing how to handle a five year old.
Her mother specially told them, that she didn't want them putting their hands on her daughter. That's the reason why the principal and teacher wouldn't touch the little girl because her mother had told them that she didn't want them too. The cops had been up to the school the week before over the same little girl because if you listen to the video, you will hear the cop say something, "last time, if this happened again, you would get handcuffed" or something. Her mother is already happy to **** but what the hell is she trying to do improve or change this little girl attitude?
Now, everyone is taking the blame off the little girl and putting on the principal and teacher. I agree, the handcuffs were way overboard but come on now, in this day in age, if they did touch the little girl, her mother would be screaming bloody murder bout they touched her baby when she was acting out etc etc. They were damned if they do, damned if they don't. I wonder if i'm ready to put up with these no account parents when I start teaching in a few years...sigh
And there it is. And people stop using racism to describe this situation, when it's the momma that should be arrested for allowing her child to behave that ill-mannered.
Technically the teacher, and asst. principal followed the correct procedure. They practiced crisis intervention. . which is a technique usually taught to high school teachers. From my teaching years:
Speak monotone. Eye Contact. Talk with your hands. Keep moving. Defend yourself if necessary.
If the situation escalates, call the SRO (School Resource Officer). Once the SRO is called, they are in complete control of the situation. Since they've already dealt with this girl before, they probably wanted to make an example of her. Insensitive? Yes! Excessive? Probably! Against the law? Not at all. And most courts would probably rule against the mother.
...no FIVE year old deserves to be handcuffed over a tantrum!....i doubt u'd feel that way if three men arrested your five year old
..i know thats right....some of those kids...if they were mine id give them up for adoption :???: 
