MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
Should a 7 year old, especially one w/ special needs, be handcuffed? It sounds like he was completely out of control. But it also sounds so horrible to do that to a child that age, especially one w/ special needs.
It does seem clear that he was a danger to others there, that he was very violent.
I'll post the whole article because you have to register to read it..
Police defend handcuff decision
Fall River report details boy's arrest
By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | May 3, 2005
Until after recess, the 7-year-old first-grader seemed untroubled during his first day at a Fall River elementary school. But when his teacher asked the class to open their books, the boy resisted, police said. Saying he was going home, he tried to hit his teacher, another student, and a teacher's aide and then bolted into the hallway.
When the principal tried to make eye contact, the boy kicked her in the throat, according to a Fall River police report. Other teachers tried to intervene, and the boy struck one several times in the face and pulled her hair. He kicked another in the legs and tried to yank a chain from her neck.
By the time police got to the school, a teacher was struggling to keep the boy inside the principal's office. ''He's so strong, I can't hold the door," she said.
Inside the inner office, a frightened female employee cowered behind a desk.
Yesterday, Fall River's police chief released the police report in an attempt to stem criticism by the boys' parents and special education advocates of the officers' decision to handcuff the boy and charge him with assault.
''The officers, I think, used incredible discretion," Police Chief John M. Souza told the Globe yesterday. ''I was briefed on the incident, and my first reaction was, 'Oh my goodness, he's 7 years old, and they cuffed him. Why? Why?' "
But after being briefed by a commander who OK'd the use of handcuffs and shackles, Souza said he decided that officers made the right decision last Thursday.
''I couldn't have possibly considered a more appropriate method or more appropriate response to this incident than what transpired," he said.
Souza said he would be amenable, if asked by prosecutors, to back off the charges, as long as the boy appears in court and receives the services he appears to need.
''Certainly, we're not looking to prosecute and have a criminal record at such a tender age," Souza said.
The chief trial counsel in the Bristol County District Attorney's Office would not discuss prosecutors' plans for going forward.
The boy, who has special needs, had ended up at the wrong Fall River school because of a paperwork problem. The boy's parents, who could not be reached by the Globe yesterday, told The Boston Herald on Sunday that they were outraged that police had used force on their son, instead of calling a counselor to his aid. Some special education advocates complained yesterday that the charges filed against the boy were dramatically inappropriate for a child of that age.
The boy now faces two counts of assault; two counts of assault and battery on a public employee; two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a shod foot; and disturbing a school assembly. He was released to his mother Thursday and received a summons to appear in juvenile court this Friday. A Department of Social Services spokeswoman said she knew of no other instance in which a child that young was handcuffed. Souza pointed out that 7 is the age of criminal responsibility in Massachusetts.
It does seem clear that he was a danger to others there, that he was very violent.
I'll post the whole article because you have to register to read it..
Police defend handcuff decision
Fall River report details boy's arrest
By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | May 3, 2005
Until after recess, the 7-year-old first-grader seemed untroubled during his first day at a Fall River elementary school. But when his teacher asked the class to open their books, the boy resisted, police said. Saying he was going home, he tried to hit his teacher, another student, and a teacher's aide and then bolted into the hallway.
When the principal tried to make eye contact, the boy kicked her in the throat, according to a Fall River police report. Other teachers tried to intervene, and the boy struck one several times in the face and pulled her hair. He kicked another in the legs and tried to yank a chain from her neck.
By the time police got to the school, a teacher was struggling to keep the boy inside the principal's office. ''He's so strong, I can't hold the door," she said.
Inside the inner office, a frightened female employee cowered behind a desk.
Yesterday, Fall River's police chief released the police report in an attempt to stem criticism by the boys' parents and special education advocates of the officers' decision to handcuff the boy and charge him with assault.
''The officers, I think, used incredible discretion," Police Chief John M. Souza told the Globe yesterday. ''I was briefed on the incident, and my first reaction was, 'Oh my goodness, he's 7 years old, and they cuffed him. Why? Why?' "
But after being briefed by a commander who OK'd the use of handcuffs and shackles, Souza said he decided that officers made the right decision last Thursday.
''I couldn't have possibly considered a more appropriate method or more appropriate response to this incident than what transpired," he said.
Souza said he would be amenable, if asked by prosecutors, to back off the charges, as long as the boy appears in court and receives the services he appears to need.
''Certainly, we're not looking to prosecute and have a criminal record at such a tender age," Souza said.
The chief trial counsel in the Bristol County District Attorney's Office would not discuss prosecutors' plans for going forward.
The boy, who has special needs, had ended up at the wrong Fall River school because of a paperwork problem. The boy's parents, who could not be reached by the Globe yesterday, told The Boston Herald on Sunday that they were outraged that police had used force on their son, instead of calling a counselor to his aid. Some special education advocates complained yesterday that the charges filed against the boy were dramatically inappropriate for a child of that age.
The boy now faces two counts of assault; two counts of assault and battery on a public employee; two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a shod foot; and disturbing a school assembly. He was released to his mother Thursday and received a summons to appear in juvenile court this Friday. A Department of Social Services spokeswoman said she knew of no other instance in which a child that young was handcuffed. Souza pointed out that 7 is the age of criminal responsibility in Massachusetts.