A Secret Life of Mom Highlight Story: This story is originally from 2019.
If one were to wrack their memory, they would find their parents using the police as a threat to manage their unruly wards. But what happens when the cops go beyond their limits? Back in 2019, Dennis Turner of the Orland Police Department was fired after he tried to arrest a 6-year-old. Yes, we know that it sounds absolutely ridiculous. But, it did take place. The young child was naturally traumatized. The suspension took place because the officer didn’t take the approval of the CO. At the end of the day, he arrested a couple of children. Someone had to push some sense into him.
Orlando Rolon, the Police Chief announced the termination of Turner through a press conference. It was mentioned that he completely failed to follow departmental policy.[1] The policy required the police to obtain approval from a supervisor before arresting a child.
Rolon mentioned, “This will not stop. But at my level, I have the opportunity to be able to exercise that and when I came in today, I knew there was no choice here. He was going to be terminated. I was sick to my stomach when I heard this…We were all appalled.”
Being a reserve officer, Turner didn’t really have much of an option. He was serving at the will of the Police chief. What this entailed was that he could be fired even before the investigation was completed.
Young Child Arrested By Police Reserve- Was This A Prank?
On the 19th of September, 2019, Turner had arrested a couple of 6-year-olds. This took place at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy in Orlando. Interestingly, the arrest took place even when the principal requested him not to. Speaking to the New York Times, Chief Rolon stated, “We could not fathom the idea of a 6-year-old being put in the back of a police car.”
The grandmother of the child was also interviewed by WKMG– and her sadness was palpable. She mentioned that the suspended cop had informed her of the child’s arrest. And the reason- she had apparently kicked a staff member while acting out. “No 6-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them and they were riding in a police car to be fingerprinted and have a mugshot taken.” Even the thought sounds completely ridiculous.
The authorities soon processed the other arrested child as well. Later, he was released to a relative. Incidentally, the cop had charged the children with misdemeanor battery. Nevertheless, Aramis D. Ayala, the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, informed reporters that she was never going to prosecute them. “I refuse to knowingly play any role in the school-to-prison pipeline at any age. These very young children are to be protected, nurtured, and disciplined in a manner that does not rely on the criminal justice system to do it. This is not a reflection of the children, but more of a reflection of a broken system that needs reform.”
Read: Thug Breaks Into Elderly Woman’s Home – She Whispers Three Words That Have Him Running For His Life
The Cop Who Arrested The Child Was Immediately Suspended
Naturally, the Chief of Police had to step up and apologize for the entire debacle.[3] “On behalf of myself and the entire Orlando Police Department, I apologize to the children involved and their families. As a grandfather of three children less than 11 years old, I can only imagine how traumatic this was for everyone involved.” The video footage that went viral showed the cop dragging the child to the car. All the way, Kaia kept saying, “Please, help me, help me, please.”
It would only be an extremely deranged person who would not realize the temerity of their actions. Interestingly, there was another adult who didn’t object to the arrest. The person could be heard saying, “Okay Kaia, you have to go with them, baby girl.” Now, it could be possible that the adult thought the cop was playing a joke. Or, it does appear that most schools would have to investigate their administrators.
The news naturally sparked enormous outrage from all circles. People started clamoring for Turner’s suspension- which was immediately meted out. While this did show some fortitude by the Orlando Police Department, this wasn’t all. There would definitely have to be laws in place that would prevent the arrest of a child. And what sounds even more ridiculous is that a rule doesn’t exist in the first place. The situation could have been handled peacefully with corrective measures implemented. But now, Kaia would probably live her entire life being afraid of the police. And unfortunately- she would be one amongst the many in America.
We hope Kaia is recovering from the experience and that this has served a learning experience for the police force.
Keep Reading: Mom arrested for fighting her kid’s suspected bully on school bus
Sources
- “Bodycam footage shows 6-year-old girl arrested at Orlando school.” Youtube. CBS News. February 25, 2020
- “Grandma speaks after 6 year old’s arrest.” Youtube. WKMG News 6 ClickOrlando. September 20, 2019.
- “Orlando Officer Fired After Arresting Two 6-Year-Olds: ‘There Was No Choice Here’.” People. Claudia Harmata. September 24, 2019