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Milledgeville, GA- Kindergartner Arrested

April 17, 2012

Georgia police handcuffed a 6 year old kindergartner after the girl threw a tantrum at school. Salecia Johnson was accused of tearing items off the walls and throwing books and toys on Friday at Creekside Elementary School. The principal was injured due to a small shelf the child threw. The police report says when the officer tried to calm down the child in the principal’s office, she resisted and was handcuffed. The child also jumped on a paper shredder and tried to break a glass frame, the police report states. The girl was charged with simple battery and damage to property. She was suspended and can’t return to school until August.
The girl’s aunt, Candace Ruff, went with the child’s mother to pick her up from the police station. She said Salecia was alone in a holding cell and complained about the handcuffs. “She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists,” Ruff told the Associated Press. “She was so shaken up when we went there to pick her up.”

The girl’s family demanded that the central Georgia city change policy so that other children aren’t treated the same way. They say the child was shaken up by being put in a cell at the police station.” We would not like to see this happen to another child, because it’s horrifying. It’s devastating,” Ruff said.
The police chief said the girl was taken to the police department’s squad room, not a holding cell, and officers there tried to calm her down.
“The reason we handcuff detainees is for the safety of themselves as well as the officer,” says Police Chief Dray Swicord. “Our policy states that any detainee transported to our station in a patrol vehicle is to be handcuffed in the back and there is no age discrimination on that rule”.

Was it really necessary for the child to be handcuffed? Should the school have better control on the children so there won’t be a need for police enforcement?

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