State attorney says Orlando leads the state in number of arrests of children aged five to 10
The arrests of two six-year-old students in Florida last week showcase the broken juvenile justice system in the state, a state attorney says.
Aramis Ayala, state attorney for the Orange and Osceola counties, said Monday that she will not prosecute the children arrested by an Orlando police officer after they were misbehaving in school.
“I refuse to knowingly play any role in the school-to-prison pipeline and at any age,” Ayala said. These very young children are to be protected, nurtured, and disciplined in a manner that does not rely on the criminal justice system.”
Ayala said that the incident should be a wakeup call for the state to act and come up with better options to react in difficult situations.
“This is not a reflection of the children but more of a reflection of a broken system that is in need of reform. It’s time to address juvenile justice legislation in ways that better protect the interests of children and their development,” she said.
Ayala said that Orlando leads the state in number of arrests of children aged five to 10.
Orlando Rolón, the police chief of Orlando, said that Dennis Turner, the reserve officer who made the arrests, has been fired, WFTV reported. He said that he was sick to his stomach and that the police force was appalled when they heard the news.
“We could not fathom the idea of a six-year-old being put in the back of a police car,” Rolón said.
He said he apologised directly to the children involved and their families.
Turner, who was on duty as a school resource officer, arrested two students during different incidents over misdemeanour battery charges, several reports say.
One, a boy, was released and returned to school before being officially processed. The other child, a girl who reportedly kicked a staff member during a tantrum, was handcuffed, taken away in a police car, fingerprinted, and had her mugshots taken, WFTV said.
