Politicians Want To Ban NYPD From Handcuffing Children At Schools

Recently, there has been a spate of criticism of the NYPD after they dragged a seven-year-old out of his special-ed class in handcuffs. This wasn't the first time a child had been handcuffed by police, but if Assemblywoman Inez Barron has her way, it will be the last time.

Barron (D-Brooklyn) is planning on introducing legislation to ban handcuffing children under age 12 on school property. Barron said she was still looking for a sponsor for her bill in the Senate, but City Councilman Charles Barron will be introducing a supporting resolution. Previously, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said that what happened to seven-year-old Joseph Alexander was sad, but sometimes the situation called for such measures: "There are opportunities that present themselves where a student may be in danger to either him or herself or to other students," he said.

If the legislation is approved, then a five-year-old will no longer be cuffed for a temper tantrum,
nor a seven-year-old special education child, nor a nine-year-old asthmatic kid. However, the 13-year-old who doodled on her desk, and is obviously a danger to the entire NYC school system, would still be out of luck.

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By Ben Yakas in News on April 30, 2011 9:10 AM

Comments [rss]

MPA2000

Why would an idiot cop want to handcuff a 7 year old? Oh wait, I said "idiot".

section35

There is a simple solution, don't call the Police, call Barron.

nolastname

from the headline only...use stun guns. Banned is a vast word. Sometime handcuffs and even larger measures should be utilized.

gogogadgetarm

The only people allowed to make any sort of comment here is those who work with these children on a regular basis. Until then, you have no idea what they are capable of. You don't know their history, their mental status or their intentions as their teachers do.
As a side note: in our child psychology classes we are taught many theorists believe it is by age 8 people have morally developed. Then if at 9 or 10 a child thinks it is ok to try and murder his teacher, stab another student, deal drugs and hurt themselves... are painless handcuffs on a kid really what people are getting so upset over? We have bigger issues here people.

Joey__Blow

"The only people ...allowed to make any sort of comment here ARE those who are noun verb conforming."

fixed that for you oh great posting czar.. now I see where my tax dollars were NOT spent.

OTOH the little bastards will attack and kill anyone that their ADHD addled brain focuses on. Back away and don't make eye contact!!

schmeep

From someone who works with children on a regular basis, I'm glad that you're the internet policeman keeping people from expressing their opinions.

TheRealCannibal

just use zip ties. Everyone wins!

petey2

It happens so seldom, but when it is done, there is good reason.

That 8 year old who brought a gun to school. What if instead of selling it for $3, he decided to use it? Should the police not use handcuffs on him? If he was still armed, and shooting, should the police not have shot him, despite him posing a threat to others?

Guest

EDIT: scratch the previous statement. too many loopholes.

Guest

CUTE, PINK restraints with HELLO KITTY logos on'em!

Peter Rosa

Aren't there school safety agents on duty in all schools? If so, they should be responsible for incidents of this sort - NOT regular NYPD cops. Obviously there are some situations in which NYPD intervention is appropriate, such as use of weapons, non-student intruders, large gang fights, or other extreme situations. In almost all other cases, however, the NYPD should defer to the school safety people.

Guest

Actually SSO's are full peace officers with powers of arrest on and off duty. Almost the same as a slop cop but with no gun and slightly reduced powers.

DC

can they just taser the kids? get like a children specific taser made one with spiderman on it and make it seems you shotting webbing at them, but then POW hit them with enough jiggawatts to jump start a delorean. that'll get the fuckers to calm down.

Guest

I know 100 pound teachers who never needed anything more than their arms a chair and common sense to restrain an 'out of control' child. The police have no business in our classrooms and certainly should;d be ashamed and embarrassed to cuff a little kid. The true losers here are the slop cops of the NYPD.

gogogadgetarm

It is actually illegal for a teacher to restrain a child. And i hope your friend never has to deal with my 210 pound 12 year old who has already put another student in the hospital.

Guest

Did not mean to mark as liked. Your son shouldn't be in public school.

Spirit of 76

You can un-like any comment by clicking the same button again.

Guest

I'm all in favor of handcuffing small children, especially if the children in question are from the inner city. It's a good pre-emptive strategy of taming these animals before they get too out of hand. The younger we handcuff these little savages, the better. If science could come up with little microscopic handcuffs to restrain them while in their mothers' bellies, I'd be all for it. Black people are dangerous and scary; even at the tender age of five, six, and seven and at the weight of 50 pounds, they have the ferocity of a 200 pound adult felon with a rap sheet a mile long, so I don't see why we can't use the same restraints on them as we would on an adult with a known criminal background.

Peter Rosa

Read through certain corners of the blogosphere and you'll soon encounter vaguely homoerotic tributes to the muscular bodies and physical prowess of black men. Seriously, I'm not making this up.

Bernie_Geotz_Squirrel_Luv

I'm OK with this bill. How do hospitals and other places where there's troubled children handle them?
so, again I'm OK with this.