Police Pepper Spray 8-Year-old boy

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/national/police-pepper-spray-8-year-old-during-a-temper-tantrum-at-school

LAKEWOOD, Colorado - A police spokesman said officers made “not only the right choice, they made a great choice” in pepper-spraying an 8-year-old boy because of a temper tantrum.
The police were called to Glennon Heights Elementary on Feb. 22 because of the second grader’s violent temper.
The police report says 8-year-old Aiden was “climbing the cart and spitting at teachers. He also broke wood trim off the walls and was trying to stab teachers with it.”
The report continues, saying Aiden was holding something that looked like a sharpened stick and he screamed, “Get away from me you f---ers.”

Police officers told the boy to drop the stick, and when he refused, they sprayed him in the face with pepper-spray twice until he dropped the object.
Police had been called to the school twice before because of the boy, but Aiden’s mother, Mandy, thinks the police should have handled the situation differently.
Lakewood Police spokesperson Steve Davis believes the officers made the right decision, calling it the safest option considering the circumstance.
Aiden has since been transferred to a school for children with behavioral issues, and his mother says he is seeing a doctor.
The boy even admits he has a problem controlling his anger, saying “just kind of like whenever anybody upsets me, I just kind of want to tear them apart.”

*****************


So Mom thinks the police treated her son like a common criminal... she better get used to it. This is why I believe in corporal punishment.

[Parkbandit]

The police should have tazed that little fuck.

[Gelston]

They were justified. Even though his is only an 8 year old, he still has the capability to use weapons and harm people, perhaps other children.

[4a6c1]

Yeah I've seen some crazy asshole kids volunteering in government offices around Houston but seriously? They couldnt just walk over and grab it out of his hand?

[Gelston]

Yeah I've seen some crazy asshole kids volunteering in government offices around Houston but seriously? They couldnt just walk over and grab it out of his hand?

Well, none of us were there. We don't know the exact situation. Maybe they were also tired of getting called over to the school for the little fucker.

[Rucca]

He may be a child, but it doesn't mean he couldn't have harmed or killed another child in his fit of rage. It's kind of scary to have that much anger at only 8 years old.

http://rawjustice.com/2010/09/04/10-of-the-most-homicidal-children-in-history/

[Archigeek]

Nothing wrong with a good spanking.

[4a6c1]

Maybe they were also tired of getting called over to the school for the little fucker.

Repetition and triviality of human behavior is part of their job. Being tired of getting a call somewhere is irrelevant. They are held up to greater standards of behavior.

That said...you are correct in that we dont know the situation. There are instances of that given circumstance where I might have done the same thing.

[Tgo01]

Yeah I've seen some crazy asshole kids volunteering in government offices around Houston but seriously? They couldnt just walk over and grab it out of his hand?

It was probably the safest way to handle the situation without anyone getting hurt.

[Back]

I imagine if they wrestled this brat to the ground someone would have called child abuse or police brutality.

[RichardCranium]

It was probably the safest way to handle the situation without anyone getting hurt.

You don't think pepper spray to the face hurts?

[Tgo01]

You don't think pepper spray to the face hurts?

Okay, perhaps I should have said 'seriously' hurt.

[Gan]

I chuckle at a cop who chose not to disarm an 8 year old boy wielding a broken piece of wooden trim. Ooooh scary!

Sadly enough, this is what our society has come to. And that's without even touching what issues the child or his family have.

[RichardCranium]

I'm just saying that as a police officer, if the only way you can get a little kid to drop a stick is to spray him in the face until he drops it, you may want to consider a different line of work.

[Tgo01]

I'm just saying that as a police officer, if the only way you can get a little kid to drop a stick is to spray him in the face until he drops it, you may want to consider a different line of work.

What is the other alternative? Obviously asking him to drop it wasn't working.

[Back]

I'm just saying that as a police officer, if the only way you can get a little kid to drop a stick is to spray him in the face until he drops it, you may want to consider a different line of work.

Actually pulling pepper spray probably saved everyone a lot of time and aggravation or even more serious injury.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DzcOCyHDqc

[RichardCranium]

What is the other alternative? Obviously asking him to drop it wasn't working.

Oh, I don't know. Maybe walking over and taking it from him? That's just off the top of my head.

[Stry]

From the few years I spent working in residential treatment facilities with teens... I can tell you the cops were following a very strict protocol and knew they'd likely be scrutinized regardless.

The spray doesn't harm him permenantly and follows their safest protocol to subdue the kid instead of going hands on to take the 'weapon' from him. I can tell you... if the SCHOOL had to call the cops? You know this kid wasn't just a little angry, he was going apeshit, destroying property and created a weapon.

Going hands on with a kid has to be done in a VERY specific way, and even then there's a larger chance that someone get stabbed, or the kid gets bruised or a broken arm.

THEN there would be a lawsuit being discussed instead of an article saying how pathetic it is.

This whole situation could be avoided if people would learn2parent. Sheesh.

Edit: Also, some 8 years olds are NOT little. This kid isn't scrawny if he's tearing up fucking wood trim and breaking it with his bare hands.

[Gan]

Oh, I don't know. Maybe walking over and taking it from him? That's just off the top of my head.

Exactly!

Per the article. 4 feet tall and 82 lb worth of raging terror in a classroom with a piece of broken trim. I'm surprised that they did not taze him. GOOD THING THEY HAD PEPPER SPRAY!!!

[Tgo01]

Oh, I don't know. Maybe walking over and taking it from him? That's just off the top of my head.

Any time no physical contact is needed to be made it's usually the right choice. That's how a lot of injuries to cops and suspects happen, especially if they have a weapon. Also if the person is being unruly and uncooperative it's usually better for everyone involved if they are incapacitated first.

[KerosineKiller]

Let's hope he doesn't find someones gun.

[Back]

Seriously any method used to subdue someone without physical contact has to be the best for everyone involved.

[Rucca]

This child has social issues already, and it wasn't stated in the above article that he was in a school for that exact problem. It's interesting to find out that he is also in the same school district as Columbine High School. The way he speaks in this interview is disturbing in certain parts.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42449949/ns/today-today_people/

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

Exactly!

Per the article. 4 feet tall and 82 lb worth of raging terror in a classroom with a piece of broken trim. I'm surprised that they did not taze him. GOOD THING THEY HAD PEPPER SPRAY!!!

There's a lot more to it than that Gan. Teachers and students had barricaded themselves into another room away from him because he was telling them he was going to stab and kill them.

The kid thinks its all fun and games, he's smiling smugly the whole interview. He's got "problems" and he it's just how he is, is the line of bullshit his Mom taught him. In other words, the dominant authority figure in his life just gave him a get out of jail free card for anything he does.

If your children were in the classroom with him, would you feel the same about the pepperspray? And they didn't spray him once, it took two times before he dropped the wood.

[Gelston]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aor2eMbXbhI

[Drakefang]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aor2eMbXbhI

That's pretty goddamned scary. Probably accurate as all hell, too.

[Rucca]

That's pretty goddamned scary. Probably accurate as all hell, too.

Yeah, but unfortunately this kid isn't being paid to memorize words from a script.
What 8 year old child also believes that he will more than likely end up homeless and in a bad situation when he grows up? That's pretty crazy. Especially when his own mother doesn't even flinch when he mentions that.

[Stry]

Yeah...

1- Single mom who's a bitch looking to use her son for attention (CPS anyone?)
2- No parently skills or intelligence
3- His mom's example is teaching the kid "That was FUN!!! I get attention!"

4- End story? It's going to be worse until he gets locked up as a teen. His mom will continue to blame the cops/probation officers/counselors who "Didn't help my little boy."

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42449949/ns/today-today_people/

“They [knew] what the kids are capable of before they took them on. And then they could have also called and asked for a special [police] unit who deals with children … in these crisis situations.”

The cops definitely knew what they were doing. It's the Mom's fault. 100% She's embarrassed and using her son's retarded behavior to get attention. Way to whore out your kid...

As a Father and Social Worker, it disgusts me. She blames the police for doing their job they way they should have, and the kid isn't being held accountable for shit.

Aidan said he does not remember what triggered his rage. “I don’t know,” he told Vieira. “It’s just the way my body goes.”

His mom is teaching him by example that what he did was fine and that it wasn't even his fault. Total bullshit.


And proper training, she says, is what she would like to see come out of this situation. “I do want them to get training ... for crisis situations with children. I don’t think it’s right for an 8-year-old to get pepper-sprayed.”

Believe me, they're trained. Otherwise your son would have been tackled and likely have a broken arm.

How about instead you get some parenting classes so the cops aren't forced to protect the other 30 children in the classroom AND other adults from your little hellspawn?

If my daughter was in the same class as this kid and he started waving a weapon at her and threatening to kill her. I'd do a hell of a lot more than pepperspray the little fuck. You'd better believe it.

[Stry]

Were police justified in pepper spraying a violent 8-year-old at school?

75%
Yes, better safe than sorry.27,242 votes

25%
No, that's too much force on a child.8,989 votes

[Danical]

From the few years I spent working in residential treatment facilities with teens... I can tell you the cops were following a very strict protocol and knew they'd likely be scrutinized regardless.

^ This.

Having read case after case when I worked for CASA (court appointed special advocates), there just isn't any room for latitude on the part of the attending police officer.

Although, I would have preferred they let Casey Heynes perform a super epic bodyslam on him instead.

[Jayvn]

I vote...snatch the wood from him AND BEAT HIS ASS with it until he can't walk right for a few days... then BEAT HIS ASS WITH IT AGAIN to remind him not to do it every few days

[Delias]

I don't mean to brag, but I will fight any eight year old, with or without a pointed stick in his hand.

(Except that one crazy martial arts kid with that bo of his. Fuck that kid. Not literally, you fucking freaks. But in his case, skip the pepperspray and go right to the riot control bullets.)

[Aylien]

As someone in the field, I think the cop did the right thing.

A child in that state is not just a danger to himself, but to everyone around him.

Also, this isn't just some temper-tantrum. This kid is physiologically in a hyper adrenaline-fed rage that has completely taken over. This kid has hulked-out. Walk over and take the stick? Completely not an option. Physical contact has a huge chance of turning out VERY bad.

Totally on the cop's side.

[Cephalopod]

I'm going to break my usual pattern of saying there should have been another way to handle this... and say the cops did the right thing. Tazing would have normally been an option, but I think given his size it could have done far more permanent damage (I'm not sure if that entered into the police logic, but it could have) to the kid than the briefer blistering pain of pepper spray.

This is being sensationalized on TV shows everywhere, but the underlying issues here really point to a really troubled child with a history, and I don't see any other GOOD ways out of this situation.

[Delias]

Yeah, I just don't understand why good old punches to the head don't work anymore. I mean, especially on an 8 year old. They go down so easily. Believe me, I've punched my share of 8 year olds in the face- they are always so smug with their ice cream cones and light up sneakers... hell, I would have punched this one for FREE.