MC police pick up ESS 5 year old; harass & assault him

[Anonymous]

Anyway, I see literally NO point in worrying about whether "something else was going on" with this kid. At least not germane to this discussion. So, what? Was he "no angel?" If the cops did what is alleged, it sounds like they should never be allowed to interact with the general public again. This is not reformable.

And nor, may I add, should the school be allowed to get away with any inappropriate behavior-- if they indeed did abet the cops in some way via improper sharing of records or just by not sticking up from this very very young child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disturbing. Let's hope that fact finding is happening in a real way so that any adult is held to task for this child.

This child is in need of care and comfort. I hope that Child Services is involved and taking a hard look at home life as well.

Another comment that is about 90% less likely to have been made had this been a kid in Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Yikes. SRO’s are human and make the same mistakes as the rest of us. This kid must have resisted in every way possible, leaving the officer few options. But obviously he lost his cool and should know better. The kid belongs in a locked facility though.

They weren't SROs and you're disgusting. Just assuming no cop would ever use excessive force. Kid must have deserved it. Guess you've learned nothing from the videos we've all seen. I wasn't there, so I can't say what happened. But neither are you. At least I have Occam's Razor on my side.

By the way-- by Occam's Razor, I mean not just that cops often use excessive force, but even if they do so a minority of the time, there is bodycam footage here to back up the allegations. Yes, it hasn't been to trial, but hard to imagine the kid is kicking and screaming and biting and EVEN IF HE WAS this is the whole freakin problem with police. Mental health professionals and ER staff get spat on, attempted assaults, etc., and somehow a lot fewer of them end up threatening CHILDREN.

You belong in the locked facility you have created for this child.

The police should pick up the child and put him in the police car. That is ok. Its not ok to be verbally abusive. Lets see the footage. That will clear up a lot of problems. My bigger concern is why did this child walk off school grounds. Did the child have SN/behavioral/mental health issues or was something more going on at school or home? Kids don't normally walk out of school except if something is wrong.

Or the kid is just 5 and 5 year olds some times do irrational things for reasons neither they nor anyone else can fully comprehend.

This is not a normal behavior for a 5 year old. Something more had to be going on.

I think oppositional and defiant behavior among this age group is a lot more common than you thin. I don't condone the behavior,, I just note that this category of behavior is not uncommon for the age and I think that kids trying to leave school is a lot more common than we know. What is uncommon is how the adults reacted.

If its true oppositional defiant behavior kid needs mental health treatment. If its bad behavior, parents need to work with the school and handle it. This is not normal behavior to elope from school. Something more was going on. If the child felt happy and safe they wouldn't run from school.

I just want to know why you keep posting this repeatedly. The child may or may not have behavioral and/or social challenges. How would that suddenly excuse the officer's behavior? The kid shouldn't have left school, period, we get it. That doesn't change that, according to the story, the officers were way out of line. They cuffed a kindergartener to a chair!!!

What if an adult steals a pack of gum from CVS? Should officers pistol-whip him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bye bye SROs.

Easy answer.., no police SROs in school... replace them with trained psychologists!

But these weren’t SROs, right? I think they would be more equipped to handle something like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Yikes. SRO’s are human and make the same mistakes as the rest of us. This kid must have resisted in every way possible, leaving the officer few options. But obviously he lost his cool and should know better. The kid belongs in a locked facility though.

They weren't SROs and you're disgusting. Just assuming no cop would ever use excessive force. Kid must have deserved it. Guess you've learned nothing from the videos we've all seen. I wasn't there, so I can't say what happened. But neither are you. At least I have Occam's Razor on my side.

By the way-- by Occam's Razor, I mean not just that cops often use excessive force, but even if they do so a minority of the time, there is bodycam footage here to back up the allegations. Yes, it hasn't been to trial, but hard to imagine the kid is kicking and screaming and biting and EVEN IF HE WAS this is the whole freakin problem with police. Mental health professionals and ER staff get spat on, attempted assaults, etc., and somehow a lot fewer of them end up threatening CHILDREN.

You belong in the locked facility you have created for this child.

The police should pick up the child and put him in the police car. That is ok. Its not ok to be verbally abusive. Lets see the footage. That will clear up a lot of problems. My bigger concern is why did this child walk off school grounds. Did the child have SN/behavioral/mental health issues or was something more going on at school or home? Kids don't normally walk out of school except if something is wrong.

Or the kid is just 5 and 5 year olds some times do irrational things for reasons neither they nor anyone else can fully comprehend.

This is not a normal behavior for a 5 year old. Something more had to be going on.

I think oppositional and defiant behavior among this age group is a lot more common than you thin. I don't condone the behavior,, I just note that this category of behavior is not uncommon for the age and I think that kids trying to leave school is a lot more common than we know. What is uncommon is how the adults reacted.

If its true oppositional defiant behavior kid needs mental health treatment. If its bad behavior, parents need to work with the school and handle it. This is not normal behavior to elope from school. Something more was going on. If the child felt happy and safe they wouldn't run from school.

I just want to know why you keep posting this repeatedly. The child may or may not have behavioral and/or social challenges. How would that suddenly excuse the officer's behavior? The kid shouldn't have left school, period, we get it. That doesn't change that, according to the story, the officers were way out of line. They cuffed a kindergartener to a chair!!!

What if an adult steals a pack of gum from CVS? Should officers pistol-whip him?

Thank you, PP. I have a feeling the person you're responding to felt very strongly that Eric Garner shouldn't have been selling loosies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find this really confusing. It's hard to know what happened. I am always suspicious when there is just one side, especially when that side is the lawyers representing one person.

One one hand, the kid ran away from school. One of the things that the article objects to seems to be that the police picked up the kid, put him in the car and drove him back to school. To me, that's what I'd expect. The police's first job in that circumstance is definitely to get the kid back to the adults who are caring for him. Yes, being "placed in a squad car" (one of the things they object to) is scary, but I'm not sure how else they should get the child back to school

It sounds like some of the things they said while they were doing it were out of line, but honestly without the other side it's just hard to say.

Quoting here “ the complaint was written based on body camera footage of the incident from one officer. The other officer’s camera was not on, they said.”

That’s a wrap!

Not really...

[Anonymous]

Yeah, there's no such thing as "contributory negligence" on the part of the family here. Those of you insisting there is need to take a long hard look at why you think any of this is relevant to the way this child BARELY OLD ENOUGH TO TIE HIS SHOES was treated that way.

[Anonymous]

Can somebody explain why they are so upset about him being placed in a police car and driven back to school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bye bye SROs.

Easy answer.., no police SROs in school... replace them with trained psychologists!

But these weren’t SROs, right? I think they would be more equipped to handle something like this.

SROs tend to be in a situation of intentionally blurring boundaries between "role model", educator and law enforcement officer. It was these officers apparent failure to respect boundaries that was the cause of the problem. I think SROs are a continuation of this problem.

The real core issue is that policing nowadays is about training cops to be hammers and treating every situation like a nail. Schools would be better off hiring a staff member responsible for "safety" but with no law enforcement training or background. They could then address school safety holistically, pedestrian issues, access, running in halls, playground, support for teachers/staff with unruly behavior, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody explain why they are so upset about him being placed in a police car and driven back to school?

My guess is moreso the manner in which that occurred. The officers allegedly behaved in a quite hostile manner and the complaint would be that they treated this similar to an arrest.

[Anonymous]

I'm a special ed para (CPI certified), and I've worked with eloping ES aged kids for several years. (This is the first year I haven't had an eloper in 5 years! DL for the win! or something...) I have yet to see an eloper that didn't have an IEP or 504.

I was in one K-2nd LFI class with 8 kids. 4 of them were regular elopers, and by "regular" I mean daily attempts, but usually within the school building. We normally had 2 or 3 staff with the kids at any one time - with staff frequently occupied in the bathroom with diapering. Do the math! We were not allowed to lock or block the door. We never had one leave the school property, but did have to redirect a couple times at the sidewalk by the street. We were instructed that if they got off campus, we had to call the police for help.

Some kids need more help than we're staffed to give. I can all too easily see a kid slipping away, despite the best efforts of the school. That's the unfortunate reality.

What the police are alleged to have done in response is reprehensible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody explain why they are so upset about him being placed in a police car and driven back to school?

Did you read the story? I can't tell if this is feigned ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Another ESS mom here. I hope this story goes national as an undeniable example of racism and police brutality. A 5 year old verbally assaulted and traumatized for 50 minutes. Yes I’m making assumptions about race but I have a student in this grade and believe I do know the family. Absolutely unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to see the body cam as you are just getting the parents side who was not there. That kid needs a SN child care setting if they are eloping. There is far more to this story.

he didn’t elope, he wandered off. He was literally 1 minute from school.

He is 5.

T
You are an example of somebody so set on defending cops that your brain has fallen out of your skull.

How can you determine that he wandered off? The kindergarten rooms in that building aren’t near the street. That is quite a way to wander off unintentionally.

I’m assuming the school called the police once the child stepped off of school property. District policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, there's no such thing as "contributory negligence" on the part of the family here. Those of you insisting there is need to take a long hard look at why you think any of this is relevant to the way this child BARELY OLD ENOUGH TO TIE HIS SHOES was treated that way.

It's wild that people think this way talking about a five year old minor child in the care of the school.