Florida cop suspended after he handcuffed and arrested 6-year-old girl for throwing a tantrum in school
ORLANDO, FLORIDA: A police officer from Orlando, Florida, has reportedly been suspended after he arrested two children, including a six-year-old girl, for throwing a tantrum.
Authorities said that the officer's suspension will remain in place until the department completes its investigation into the incident.
Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said that the School Resource Officer, Dennis Turner, did not obtain the approval of his commanding officer before arresting a six-year-old and an eight-year-old on Thursday, September 19, stated a report by News 6.
According to department policy, the officer is required to get approval of the arrest first before making the move.
The Police Chief said that the officer has been reassigned to the Reserve Officer Program and his duties have been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
"The Orlando Police Department has a policy that addresses the arrest of a minor, and our initial finding shows the policy was not followed,” Rolon told the outlet. "As a grandparent of three children less than 11 years old, this is very concerning to me."
Turner reportedly cuffed, fingerprinted, and charged six-year-old Kaia Rolle with battery after she threw a tantrum and kicked someone at the Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy elementary school, Rolle's grandmother, Meralyn Kirkland said.
The grandmother added that the child suffers from sleep apnea and was sleep-deprived at the time of her outburst.
"No six-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them and they were riding in the back of a police car and taken to a juvenile center to be fingerprinted, mug shot," Kirkland said.
Rolon said that when a supervisor became aware of what Turner had done, the child's arrest was halted and she was returned to the school before being processed.
However, the eight-year-old arrested by Turner — in a separate incident — was processed at the Juvenile Detention Center and was later released to a relative.