A Florida police officer was suspended after he arrested two young children in school last week, including a 6-year-old who “threw a tantrum” only because of an apparent medical condition, according to a relative and police. Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón said in a statement that school resource officer Dennis Turner (pictured left) did not obtain the approval of a commanding officer before making the arrests last Thursday. Department policy requires such. “The Orlando Police Department has a policy that addresses the arrest of a minor and our initial finding shows the policy was not followed,” Rolón said. “As a grandparent of three children less than 11 years old this is very concerning to me.” The 6-year-old was charged with battery after she kicked someone at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy, a K-5th grade charter school. Florida is one of a few states in the country that has no age requirement when it comes to arrests. According to the girl’s grandmother, her behavioral issues stem from sleep apnea. Her arrest was halted by a supervisor and she was returned to school. According to her grandmother, her granddaughter was fingerprinted and even had her mug shot taken. “They told us we had to wait a few minutes because [she] was being fingerprinted, and when she said finger printed it hit me like a ton of bricks,” Kirkland said. “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” The 8-year-old, who was arrested in a separate incident, was processed and later released to a relative. The story prompted massive outrage on social media. A study was done on the “adultification” of Black girls & showed adults (even Black) view Black girls as less innocent/in need of protection as their white peers starting @ 5 yrs old. This is a perfect example of that. A 6yr old was arrested at school. https://t.co/4T6uczjs2O — Reagan Gomez (@ReaganGomez) September 23, 2019 Officer WITH HISTORY OF ABUSE AND MISCONDUCT arrested 6-year-old for throwing a tantrum in school. (Why was he still employed as an officer? Oh wait, I know…cop union and lack of accountability for police) https://t.co/R19Q2cO5T0 via @HuffPost — Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) September 23, 2019 A 6-year-old. *A 6-year-old.* A 6-YEAR-OLD. They would put our newborns in prison if they could get away with it. Just dispense with the pretense and go right back to slavery. https://t.co/6Ag5BSceog — N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) September 22, 2019 Kaia Kirkland is six years old. So what if she had a tantrum? Children that age sometimes do. Orlando cops saw fit to handcuff her for it. To fingerprint her. To take her mug shot. She is only six, and consider how cavalierly she was put into the system. https://t.co/wRoMazcFS4 — Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) September 22, 2019 RELATED: NYPD Fires Officer Accused Of Fatally Choking Eric Garner RELATED: SMH: Jack In The Box Drive-Thru Employee Fired For Mocking Deaf Woman & Refusing To Serve Her PHOTO CREDIT: NBC News
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Florida Police Office Suspended After Arresting 6-Year-Old, 8-Year-Old At Elementary School
