http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/04/us/aclu-disabled-students-handcuffed-lawsuit/

Why is it the school called law enforcement to discipline an 8 yr old...really?

I mean, WTF is a LEO supposed to do with an unruly 8 year old?

About what I thought.
What's the cop suppose to do anyway?

Why not just a good butt whippin?

Be interesting to know if it cured the kid from acting unruly in class?

State law specifically, and in plain language, forbids the use of physical - especially mechanical physical - restraints. The SRO is toast, and should be.

Whether the kid/s was/were a complete jackass(es) or not is a separate question; the state law specifically forbids exactly what he did. Twice.

We can certainly agree there.

That's exactly why cops shouldn't be beholding to anybody but the law.

This cop needs serious consequences?

Three questions:

1) What makes you think he won't get them.

2) Are the consequences he gets any of your concern.

3) People all over the world do stuff every day that merits "serious consequences." Why single out this particular person. What is so remarkable here.

OK, that was 4.

Cops hold a unique position of authority in our society, making this a matter of common concern for Americans.

You're right. This particular incident is an example of a LEO trying to do what the employer wants, rather than what the law allows.

Well said. Now, will any of the SROs "bosses" be held accountable? Highly doubtful. Will any of the teachers who pawned off the kids to the SRO be held to any degree of accountability? Almost assuredly not.

This in NO way is excusing the SRO for his illegal actions. However, the problem is quite likely more deeply rooted than the SRO, and the root needs to be dug out along with all it's tentacles.

Its the 10% of squeaky wheels pointing out what the bad 10% of every professsion does, thats wrong, that makes it seem like the whole profession is wrong.

Just like media these days the bashers are part of the problem of America.

Not that these things don't need to be addressed, but .....

The whole incident would be avoidable "if"...using your term...unruely kids could be "pawned [back] off" to the parents.

Parents are the ones doing the original pawning off to the schools instead of actually raising their kids. The ultimate responsibility lies with the parent, yet that doesn't absolve the SRO, the school administration, or the teachers for this debacle.

My better half recently retired after 26yrs of working at the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. She taught kids ages 2yrs to 18yrs and was trained and certified by the state in how to safely restrain them when they would go off. Seems the public school systems ought to do the same or LEO's should be able to. Your not only protecting others your protecting the child from themselves.

Schools should indeed be freer to expel students.

I agree.

I'm thinking a taser would slow the progression of this disease.

They hold another unique position too.

My guess would be that he was called to handle a situation that he was not trained for. Instead of refusing to get involved, he attempted to help out and teach the kid a lesson. Not being trained, and not knowing what to do, he stepped in it. I'm sure they didn't cover Classroom Discipline in the academy.

We're going to see a Latonia Effect, now.

School Resource Officers around the country will hang back and let 8-year-olds riot, rather than risk their careers by being accused of overly aggressive tactics.

Technically, as an SRO, he is supposedly trained for such situations.

tjm,

When the tactics are specifically and in plain English forbidden by statute, it's a pretty safe bet that the SRO has gone "above and beyond". Now, will the others complicit in fomenting this be held to account as well is the only question (and, they won't).

And what would that training entail? Teachers call you because a kid won't stop disrupting the class, what is it that a SRO is supposed to do, above a beyond what a teacher can do? Seems to me that the only thing an officer could do that a teacher could not, would be to place the kid in handcuffs. So if you don't want the kid in cuffs, why call the SRO?

I'm betting that at the request of a teacher the officer was trying to teach an out of control kid that there are consequences for bad behavior. Poor judgement and a bad deal on everyone's part.

SRO stands for School Resource officer, here usually school pays their wages during the school year and the city pays for it in the summer when school isnt in session....and they are very familiar with the schools discipline rules as that is a part of their job....its a law he should have known quite well given his job....the guy fugged up and it is on him.....

I've seen parents request putting their kids in handcuffs and in the back of a patrol car as a lesson. I also have heard people threaten their kids if they don't behave they will have the police man "take" them away ect.

Sad part is that society wants the police officer to discipline/raise their kids instead of doing it themselves. Parents rather be "friends" to their kids than Parents.

Sad that we even need or have police officers in schools, goes with the times unfortunately.

The schools don't call to DISCIPLINE. They call to help CONTROL destructive and dangerous behavior. I can't say I approve of his techniques but having been in his position on several occasions the thought of handcuffing did cross my mind and on a couple of occasions I was forced to handcuff juveniles.

Be a teacher in a behavior disorder class room for a few days and you would be doing the same. You could not pay me enough to do it.

In reality, the persons I wanted to hand cuff the most was their parents. There seemed to be a connection between parents who could not or would not teach their kids manners and expectation of behavior in a school setting. They needed some time in cuffs to make a point to their lazy @$$e$.

He's an ex teacher.

OK, then put him in prison.

I wouldn't be opposed to that. What he did to that kid reminds one of North Korean torture methods.

What we need is more people just like you to become cops...you may get your ass kicked a lot, but by God the public will respect you!

Why all the love for "zero tolerance" That cop needs only mild consequences for breaking the rules. Probably helped the kid.

"A concern for Americans??

Are you implying that a citizen of say, Poughkeepsie NY has some sort of duty to concern himself with how citizens of say, Des Moines Iowa discipline their police officers? Doesn't that smack of federal control of what should be a local concern?

Why the handcuffs when a couple flashbangs would have worked?

If a teacher of "special needs kids" can't control them in a classroom without calling a cop, the teacher needs to find a different job, or the class size should be reduced to make it manageable.

I suspect that an "ordinary" cop would have handled the situation much better than this former school teacher turned cop. An "ordinary cop" would probably never have considered cuffing an eight year old.

When you add the arrogance of a teacher to the authority of a cop, you have a BAD critter.

I'm 100 percent ok with what the guy did from what I read.

They just whupped the piss out of us back when I was a kid.

I'm not.......

George

It looks (reads) like an eight year old was throwing a fit. Striking, hitting, an adult, and was calmly restrained and told you cannot act that way.

Am I missing something?

The only thing I disagree with is that someone called in the SRO for an 8 year old not listening....ignore him or make him sit outside the classroom door....

where ya teaching at these days TRH?

Only laws, rules, and premissive mentality that are the reasons the little brat acts that way in the first place.

Cops, teachers, and preachers can be alittle overbearing at times. I always wrote up preachers and teachers for fish and wildlife violations. They like to hold people to high standards. If it was an officer and the "mistake" was minor I let it go. Teachers and preachers never cut me much slack. One of the angriest violators I ever wrote up was the male member of a husband and wife teacher duo fishing w/o license. He cussed us for coming out 2 days after licenses expired and writing citations. I told him that I agreed that it was chickenshit and to just produce last years license and we would let it go. Well I declare he hadn't bought that one either.

That was the job of the vice principal, and if he was unavailable then a male gym teacher was next in line. Never seen a police officer at the school when I was growing up.

The principal at our school. Everybody knew about his wooden paddle. No parents were stupid enough to questions it.

So this cop was concerned about a little kid kicking his ass??

Exactly.

Thank God. You appear, however, to be a minority among the Fire's cops and their cheerleading squad.

How do the cops handle situations like that at the school where you teach?

i'll make the popcorn...

TRH, make no mistake about my posts, I don't condone his actions.

I just question your standing in the whole matter.

Didn't watch much of the video, but if the kid was uncontrollable, handcuffing in such a manner prevented injury to the child and those around him. We've became such a nations of whiny puzzies.

We have resource officers, and in the thirteen odd years I've been teaching public school, I've never seen one case of handcuff use, let alone Chinese torture style handcuff use, and that's high school, not middle or elementary. One time I saw a resource officer tackle a guy twice his size (a huge senior lineman) in order to break up a fight, but I thought he did a great job in that situation. If you're suggesting handcuffs are the norm for resource officers, you're way off base.

What an odd statement.

Really? What's odd about it?

What one jurisdiction does to punish an errant cop is none of your business, unless you are a citizen of that jurisdiction. Do you disagree with that?

If you make it your business, you'r a busybody.

The reason I commented is, I get tired of these cop-bashing threads. Cops are human and they make mistakes. Why do people continuously make that observation, with a sense of wonder and surprise?

I compare it to the knuckleheads who botched the lion hunt in Zimbabwe. Much ado about nothing. I guess busybodies everywhere need something to occupy their attention and outrage.

What did I say that made you feel I was criticizing all cops? Cops, as individuals, are a mix of good and bad, honorable and dishonorable, etc..

Did I say you were criticizing all cops?

So what do we do these days when a young hellion has an episode?

Apparently you are supposed to tackle them.

Taze him.

How about a real answer?

Teachers are stuck dealing with children who have never experienced significant consequences, who are all special, who are filled with unearned self esteem, et cetera.

Having never been in the wrong (as far as they know) these children blow a gasket when something doesn't go their way, when they are told no, or when they have to sit still and pay attention.

Since we can't do anything to make them uncomfortable or ding their delusions, what do we do?

There is a BLDD epidemic.

That cop did fine. This discussion borders on ridiculous. That cop was gentle and kind, but firm, just like he should be. If the kid was swinging his arms at the cop, I think the cop did him and his parents a great service by teaching him that's not acceptable, especially to someone in authority over you.

When spanking went away, things went downhill and everybody with a brain knows it.

Seems clear to me. The cop should be fired.

The laws of this country have created an environment where discipline is considered a crime, or at least a civil liability, and bad people (kids included)get all the attention, while the good ones pay for it.

When things get bad, there is nobody left to go to, but the cops, and they are left to deal with an unwinnable situation.

Agreed, and the school district will hire another one, who will be asked to do the same thing. If he isn't willing to do it, they'll find one who will.

That's BLDD.

Translation please?

So, could someone educate me please?. Just how is one supposed to safely control a child that's completely out of control?

Not seen much in the way of constructive comments here.

Surely I didn't need a smiley face with you, Sean. "Latonia Effect" was the clue.

A child that can not be controlled should not be in public school.

I would have let him run out of control and do anything he wanted and then shamed any teacher or administrator who complained with an accusation of bigotry.

Agreed. How do you get him out of the building?

#chinesetorture

The question is how do you keep him out of the building. They're all frequent flyers.

Put him in a room by himself, call his parents, and make them come pick him up.

Tell them he can come back when he learns to behave.

I think an 8 yo in tbe midst of a fit left in a room by himself is a worse look than restraint and calm coaching.

There is no good "look" . The government (school...cop....whatever) is supposed to fix these kids so the parents don't have to deal with them when they get home.

No laws are broken, no one gets in trouble. Main thing is, the parents have to come haul his ass out of there and he doesn't come back until he learns not to foment [bleep] storms.

Puts it right on the parents, where it should be. No one, public servant or not, should have to deal with someone else's [bleep]-up kid.

Putting him in a room by himself and refusal to deal with him would probably result in a lawsuit. A child with an IEP is danged near blame free. There just aren't many consequences for their actions. Plenty of parents actively seek the diagnosis for the extra income on the welfare check. It also puts a large share of the responsibility on other people than them personally making life easier. It's the system and they definitely know how to manipulate it. The media and the liberals love these stories.

Pretty much. There are children that need special consideration, but when handcuffing them so that they don't kill the other students with a pair of scissors or jump through a glass window is necessary, the problem is bigger than the classroom.

That is the best assessment I have heard in a long time.

How we address mental health issues in America is a classic example. The mental health institution for the 21st century in America is your local county jail. You can't tell me mental health issues and Behavior Disorders issue in a school are not tied together.

How many of those youngsters just like the one you see in this video are going to end up with mental health issues as an adult? I'd say about 25% just based on my observations. They are NOT required to accept normal values and they do not have any concept of what a societal "norm" is because they are not required to learn them. They are "special" ya know.

They have been coddled and taken care of for so long without consequences they do not know how to behave when they become adults. Some of them eventually slip into serious mental health conditions because they do not know how to integrate into a "normal" society. Another 25% become career criminal because they can't keep or won't keep a good job or train for a good job. After all, they have been told by the system for years they are not "normal".

We have done these kids no favors by making them "special". And, when things turn to crap who gets the call? You know who gets the call and when they don't do it to YOUR standards, you second guess them and some even lose their jobs or even go to prison because they did not do it "your" way.

I was an SRO for 6 years. One day I was a street cop and the next I was an SRO. There were no "schools" back then to get trained up on Juvenile issues and laws, you just did your best to keep the peace.

If you think you are so GD smart, here is the manual. Figure it out yourself.
http://www.ojjdp.gov/about/legislation.html

kwg
MOGC just mentioned an IEP. An IEP simply puts the prisoners in charge of the prison. I don't know what intellectual jackass came up with the idea of an IEP but that person needs to be shot and thrown to the hogs.
kwg

More of the same. These parents put their "at risk" kids in a boot camp to fix and are mad, and sueing, because they were'nt nice to them in there.

____

4 POLICE OFFICERS ARRESTED FOR ABUSING CHILDREN AT POLICE-RUN BOOT CAMP

Four police officers have been arrested on suspicion of physically abusing 13 children attending a police-run boot camp in San Luis Obispo.

From May 17 to 24, the one-week Leadership Empowerment and Discipline Boot Camp Program brought at-risk youth to Camp San Luis Obisbo, a National Guard military base.

Promotional materials say the program, which is sponsored by Huntington Park and South Gate police departments, is designed for children experiencing behavior or disciplinary problems.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office began its investigation on May 28 after receiving reports of abuse from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

In early June, an attorney for some of the children involved said some had been beaten bloody and one suffered broke fingers.

"They never told me that they were going to beat them or they were going to put them in a dark room or they were going to fracture him or break his arm," said Veronica Bernal, the mother of one of the children.

"When they didn't do their exercises the way they were supposed to, they were stomped in the back. Their fingers were stepped on," said Araceli Pulido, who had two daughters at the camp.

Of the 37 camp participants, 13 male and female victims, ranging from 12 to 17, claimed they had been assaulted by officers at the camp, sheriff's officials said.

Sheriff's detectives arrested the four officers involved on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The South Gate Police Department issued a statement on its website saying, "We support the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's and the District Attorney's Office regarding the need for transparency in this matter and we will continue to cooperate with them as is necessary and appropriate."

Gomez and Gomez-Marquez were arrested on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, criminal threats, criminal conspiracy, criminal battery and abuse under color of authority.

Larios was arrested on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, criminal conspiracy, criminal battery and abuse under color of authority.

Nijland was arrested on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, criminal battery and abuse under color of authority.

http://abc7.com/news/4-police-officers-arrested-for-abusing-children-at-police-run-boot-camp/905602/

So, they pay someone to not be a total pansy ass to their kids, then sue them for not being a total pansy ass to their kids.

Belly up to the stupid bar...

said Araceli Pulido, who had two daughters at the camp.


Ala BigStick, "Hint there."

Who pays someone not to be a pansy azz to their kids?

That whole concept is baffling.

Anyone been through Basic in the last 40 years? Drill Sergeants aren't allowed to touch recruits, but seem to still get the job done.

OK. Here is a real answer...taze the parent.