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.
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.
i understand what both of you are saying....
most of the people who have replied admitted that the girl shouldn't have even been acting up in the first place....and wouldn't have been, if the mother would have been taking care of her business...we've admitted this!
and even given the backstory....you said made a key phrase - policy for HIGH SCHOOL....that's understandable...shoot, even middle school because there are some very physically strong and loco-minded unruly middle-schoolers out there of all races....
but FIVE YEARS OLD?!?!?!
i mean...even if one officer would've cuffed her.....
but for three to do so....and put her on the table like that to do so on top of that?!?! and she's ONLY FIVE?!?! i'm sorry, they were still in the wrong for that...
even if it were a little White girl, handcuffed by ANY race of police officers, i would be saying the same thing....
and i'm so tired of people saying that Blacks and other minorities are "so quick to pull the race card"....in this country, how can you NOT "pull the race card"??? I mean, granted...there are instances where race should not be an issue and people shouldn't insenuate that one or several people were racist because of something he or she or they said or did....but the bottomline is, there are ALSO times...MANY times....where race IS an issue....where someone really IS racist, whether they made certain comments or not...
that's just a reality in this country....and I'm so sick of people acting like it should never or rarely be an option...
who's to judge when race or racism is an issue and when it isn't???
if you're a Black person going for a job in a predominantly White company....and you don't get the job, but a White counterpart of yours does.....YES, it is VERY possible that you were simply less qualified than that other person....but to deny or not consider the possibility that you were declined the job for other, underhanded reasons - race, included - is proposterous in such a crooked, corrupted, and sheming country as this one....
regardless as to whether you are Black, Hispanic, Asian-American, Native American, or any other racial group classified as a "minority" here....it is HARD not to consider race as an issue when we're involved in damn near ANYthing....because that's just the type of environment those who came before us (and even some of those amongst us now) created for us to live in....
we could never again "pull the race card" if we want....but I believe so much more would get pass us - even moreso than now.....
even if race or racism doesn't end up being an issue in any equation of daily life....certain people of this nation have made it almost second nature to "pull the race card"....when it comes to anything....
so be careful whose throat you jump down.....until nationwide and even worldwide racism is completely (or even mostly) eradicated....people will continue to "pull the race card"....and quite understandably....
I cant believe that no one could not hold down a five year old. As log as the police didn't beat her or throw her against the hood of the squad car there isn't anything wrong with showing her what happens when you act that bad. What's up with her moms?
Danielle
c/o '09
Howard University
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The mother- need to give her child a nice beating and TALK to her about everything cause even at that age communication means something.
The police- need to find a new job. If you wrongfully book a lil girl then how many more mistakes do you have down the road?
The teachers- should of been kicked the lil girl out the school. Sounds harsh, but it comes a time when things get out of control and if you can't handle it without callin the police then bottom line the lil girl shouldn't be there unless you allowed to discipline her in a way that will cause her to sit down and be obediant.
Overall situation- It was just totally out of order. These are all adults. Why don't they act like it and do their respective jobs the right way for once. I don't know how anybody else sees things but alot of things that happen right now can affect that lil girl years down the line, so you want to get things right in the present. I would fire the teachers and threaten to kick the lil girl out unless she can be controlled. The mother need to drop her lil lawsuit. I could see if she was handlin her business, but she wasn't so when a bad action occurs while you was slackin off then you really shouldn't be able to say nothin. As far as this havin to do w/ race, I would say yea most likely. But I don't see that as the main issue cause it could of been avoided.
I'm not naive enough or stupid enough to think that racism has been eliminated. I'm saying this is not a racist issue. A horrible image being shown on national TV. . .definitely. Racism. . .I seriously doubt it.
I compare it to a few years ago, when there was a big flap because drug dealers were getting more years for selling crack, then for selling ****. Yeah there were inequities, it was unfair, but the fact is THEY WERE SELLING CRACK! Which is wrong no matter how you turn it. This little girl, black, white, latino whatever was WRONG. Her momma was WRONG.
Many of my friends who are teachers and administrators view it the same way. The teachers and principals did what they were supposed to do. I don't agree with them handcuffing the young child. But, they had to detain her and remove her from the school.
It's ironic that an African proverb, thrown around a lot is "It takes a community to train a child." I guess that cliche only counts if you're referring to your own ethnic community. White parents not wanting blacks to whip their children is why we no longer have corporal punishment. I guess in this case the white police officers trying to instill some "healthy fear" into the heart of an unruly black girl was **** wrong too.
The child was BAD.... devilish to be more specific. This is why I couldn't work at an elementary school. You get blamed for incidents that stem from poor parenting.
The handled it the best way they could. Watch the video and LISTEN. This was not the first time for this girl, and her mother was not taking the school's warnings seriously.
I compare it to a few years ago, when there was a big flap because drug dealers were getting more years for selling crack, then for selling ****. Yeah there were inequities, it was unfair, but the fact is THEY WERE SELLING CRACK! Which is wrong no matter how you turn it.
And amen - I feel you on that....but you're missing the point...the PRINCIPLE of that situation is if you're GOING to punish those doing wrong...PUNISH THEM ALL...don't just be selective in who you punish...
PUNISH THEM ALL...and EQUALLY....
just like you have people who argue that it's ridiculous how drug dealers serve much more time than drug users....I personally think it's justified because as long as you have the dealers, you have the continuation of human destruction....especially when the dealing gets to the little kids...RIDICULOUS....
and if you're going to nip a problem in the bud...you got a nip it from the root and work upward....a drug user is mostly hurting him/herself or at the most, his/her family and friends...for the most part...
a drug USER...is hurting THE WHOLE DAMN COMMUNITY!!
and shoot, while we at it....what about the drug investors....the ones who are responsible for even bringing **** into the neighborhoods in the first place?!?! THOSE are the ones who get to be on easy street...while everyone beneath them suffer...
so yeah...bottomline - it's ALL wrong...but the principle is, if it's ALL wrong, why don't they ALL pay the consequences??? not just a certain group or certain individuals...or whatever the case may be...
but dag....completely off topic, lol...just wanted to address that....
Ignorance....Its not about black or white. How come black people always pull the racial card? In reality there are bigger reasons why events happen to certain people. Yeah the police are at fault for putting cuffs on a child. They act like she wuz gona viciously attack them. But on the real yall need to stop pulling the racial card. By always pulling the racial thing its shows the rest of the world that thats our only argument for the unjustices.
The child was BAD.... devilish to be more specific. This is why I couldn't work at an elementary school. You get blamed for incidents that stem from poor parenting.
The handled it the best way they could. Watch the video and LISTEN. This was not the first time for this girl, and her mother was not taking the school's warnings seriously.
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