Rochester police release video of officers pepper-spraying 9-year-old

That’s some tough math when you’re dealing with a handcuffed person. What age do you think is appropriate for an officer to start pepper spraying a handcuffed individual?

 

Pepper spray helps gain control with no long term injury. At that age, I was in Jujitsu and learned that strength and size is not always an advantage.

 

Resisting arrest and assaulting an officer age.

 

What age is that? I ask because my eleven year old nephew got himself tazed and pepper sprayed trying to be a badass in front of all his friends by taking a swing at a female cop. TBH, he could have used the beat down instead. Turns out popo doesn't care to accommodate his "oppositional defiant disorder" the way his school does.

 

It also helps an officer with poor impulse control take out his frustrations on a child for not respecting his unquestionable authority. If you can’t control a 9 year old in handcuffs without pepper spray then you shouldn’t be a cop.

 

c'mon....there were 5 officers there and they couldn't get a 9YO IN HANDCUFFS in a car so they pepper sprayed a 9yo IN HANDCUFFS ?

 

I don't believe age is an issue. If a 5 year old is biting a cop, pepper spray is better than the club. Of course, I have the luxury of my opinion from the comfort of my armchair. I have a ton of respect for those who put themselves in harms way.

They did using pepper spray. How would you have done it?

 

As a current BJJ blue, respect.

That said pepper spray does help effect a difficult arrest but I would not put that in with my k9 or certain other placeholders in the use of force continuum for someone that age.

 

Since they reportedly did it after she was cuffed and refusing to put her feet in the car, I probably would have or had someone else go to the other side and pull her backwards into the vehicle. That is not to say there aren't scenarios in which I would not agree that some CS to the face is a good option. I just don't see this one as being one of them.

 

Fair enough. At least the kids on the playground won't be messing with her!

 

They were called to the scene by her custodial parent. They were told she had threatened violence against that parent AND herself. She was struggling against them to keep from being placed in a vehicle where she could have a chance to calm down.
They had a choice to keep struggling with her physically and potentially breaking or dislocating a bone or joint and ANY physical harm would have gotten them suspended, fired, or even sued.
By using the irritant they changed her focus, and it allowed them to place her in a spot where she couldn't harm herself or anyone else. Pepper spray is a tool they use to deescalate violent situations. What would you prefer they had done?

 

Mental health and behavioral health are two different things. Like I said, she probablly has past interaction with the police or school or some type of discipline report. In fact I wouldn't be suprised if she has ODD or or sometype of CD

 

I don't know. How about this kid through you think you're going to be able to cuff this kid?

 

Ummmmm 5 ADULTS couldn’t get a 9yo in handcuffs into the car and close the door ? All do respect, but are you serious ?

And before you ask, YES, she deserved to be punched, but again, 5 ADULT Police Officers could not get a 9YO IN HANDCUFFS into a police car and close the door ?

 

5 ADULT police officers could not get 1 9YO kid, already in handcuffs into a police car.

Nice red herring.....

 

Clearly you missed the point

 

I'm not a fan of Pepper spraying a kid unless they are an armed and immediate danger to themselves or others. I still don't see how a competent police officer can't subdue an unarmed 9 year old.

 

Questions of this sort are often best answered by an application of common sense.

However, with respect to a specific policy I would say pepper spray is acceptable for adults (as a non-lethal force alternative) or for use on a person of an age and size that would make that person difficult or risky for an officer to physically control.

If an officer feels they cannot physically control a 9 year old girl without difficult/risk then he or she is in the wrong line of work.

 

Do you pepper spray your kids?

 

When you have a violently non-compliant 9 year old GIRL, anything you do to gain compliance needs to be carefully considered and done at arm's length (if not further). The potential for charges of 'inappropriate manhandling of a child' is too great to do it the old fashioned way.

 

See above. What do you think would have happened had those five adult officers manhandled the little girl?

 

Age? About 2 minutes after you repeatedly tell him "suck my ****" would be old enough for me.

 

Nothing. They literally needed to push her in the seat

Hell, the pepper spray after she was cuffed was way worse than pushing her into the car

 

Probably a good thing you’re not a cop then.

 

Nothing. How many cases can you find of cops who behaved appropriately and got into trouble for "manhandling" juveniles?