Kindergartner Handcuffed by Police After Throwing Tantrum
Police in Georgia are working to defend themselves against allegations of unnecessary force after handcuffing a kindergarten student who was throwing a tantrum.
Salecia Johnson, 6, was in the middle of a tantrum, throwing books, toys and tearing things off the walls at Creekside Elementary School in Georgia. Police responded to a call by school officials and restrained Johnson by "placing her hands behind her back and handcuffed," a police report states.
She was charged with simple battery and damage to property, according to officials. Police maintain that they were right in their actions, interim police chief Dray Swicord told the Miami Herald.
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"The reason we handcuff detainees is for the safety of themselves as well as the officer," he explained.
The girl's aunt, who went with Johnson's mother to pick her up from the police department, told reporters that her niece had been traumatized by the event. According to Candace Ruff, Salecia was sitting in a holding cell when they arrived, though police have disputed that claim, saying that Salecia was not in a holding cell but kept in the squad room.
"She said [the handcuffs] were really tight," Ruff told the Miami Herald. "She said they really hurt her wrists. She was so shaken up when we went there to pick her up."
Now Johnson's family is working to ensure that this does not happen to anyone else.
"We would not like to see this happen to another child, because it's horrifying. It's devastating," Ruff told the Associated Press.
The use of force against young students has been a subject of much discussion in the last year. Farm Hill Elementary School in Connecticut was severely chastised for its use of "scream rooms" in which emotional children having fits or tantrums were placed until they settled down.
Fellow students were upset by the idea of scream rooms and seeing their peers sent to them.
"Our policy is that any detainee transported to our station in a patrol vehicle is to be handcuffed in the back. There is no age discrimination on that rule," Milledgeville Chief of Police Dray Swicord told 13WMAZ.
