Maryland Police Catch 5 Year Old Kid That Escaped From School - Mother Sues

3 years ago
11

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/31/us/police-body-cam-5-year-old/index.html

A Maryland police department is under a spotlight after body camera video was released showing officers locate a 5-year-old boy who fled school, return him to the building and scream in his face, berate him and encourage his mother to physically abuse him.

The officers are heard in the footage talking casually about crating the boy like a "beast," denying him a nap as punishment for bad behavior, calling him a "violent little thing," handcuffing him, and suggesting he should be hit with a keyboard hard enough for keys to lodge into his backside because the boy was alleged to have broken a computer at school.
The 51-minute video was released Friday by authorities in Montgomery County, Maryland, after the boy's mother filed a lawsuit in January against the officers and the board of education that oversees the district. The footage, which is on the Montgomery County Police Department's YouTube page, had been viewed more than 266,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon.
The incident occurred in January 2020, when a school staff member asked police to help with "a five-year-old child who had left the school grounds and did not wish to return," according to a statement released by police alongside the video. Police found the boy about one-fifth of a mile away.
Law enforcement and child development experts expressed disappointment and shock upon viewing the video and noted problems with the way the situation was handled.
"Every adult in this situation failed this child," Will Jawando, a county councilmember, told CNN. "The systems that were set up to support him. School system, supposed to be a place of learning, of support, of love, of care. Those administrators failed. Police, supposed to protect and serve. They failed him."

Loading comments...