Police Apologize for arresting 10-yr-old girl who brung sissors to school

[Champ]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The police chief and the head of the city's schools apologized Monday to the mother of a 10-year-old girl who was arrested and handcuffed after she brought a pair of scissors to school in her backpack.

Although officers were following protocol when they drove the girl to a police station with her hands cuffed in front of her, discretion will be used in future cases involving young children, Police Chief Sylvester Johnson said.

Johnson said he told Rose Jackson that the arrest of her daughter, Porsche Brown, was "extremely unfortunate" and apologized for "any trauma that her daughter experienced" on her way to the station.

The district said Brown had violated a ban on bringing scissors - which are considered potential weapons - to school.

The girl's mother had voiced outrage at her daughter's arrest.

"My daughter cried and cried," Rose Jackson earlier told a Philadelphia newspaper. "She had no idea what she did was wrong. I think that was way too harsh."

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1204/194223.html

[jeff30997]

1. They let her get away with it ?

Damn,nowadays the cops are really soft on crime.

[Debbi801]

2. So what are the kids supposed to cut paper with??

Gosh, at my kids' schools, they even specify that they don't want blunt scissors, they want standard Fiscars scissors.

Debbi

[theorist]

3. Winning the hearts and minds of the young.

I wonder how I would have been affected by being handcuffed and forced to sit in the back of a squad car as a ten year old. I doubt I'd have the same "cops are just doing their jobs" perspective that I have now. This kid will probably never trust the police, ever.

[tjdee]

4. She was a black kid, too. Awesome.

(And yes, I'm ASSuming that a girl named Porsche is black. I'd bet money on it.)

Just what black folks need, another reason to assume that the police are after black people.

Here's a thought--why didn't anyone just take the scissors away from the ten year old girl? They don't have more important work than arresting children?

[CO Liberal]

5. Was She Running With Them????

:shrug:

[Champ]

6. The article indicates she brung them in her backpack

I don't know if they found them in there and decided to contact police or what, but I'm sure if she was the article would've indicated that.

[China_cat]

8. I read in another article

that the scissors were found when the kids were being searched for items taken from the teacher's desk.

[hlthe2b]

7. How incredibly traumatic to that poor little girl. This is reprehensible.

[skygazer]

9. Lock 'em all up

Damned kids anyway - today it's scissors, tomorrow they're robbing little old ladies. 'Bout time someone cracked down on the little delinquents!

<sarcasm off>

This knee jerk reaction to violence is pretty ridiculous when it only serves to traumatize innocent kids. What sort of effect is this going to have on her? Make her respect authority? I doubt it - it will probably make her resentful of it.

[Champ]

10. I agree

You nailed exactly how out of line the actioned taken was and the possible long time effect that will result from it.