The Rochester, New York police department is under fire after a 9-year-old was handcuffed and pepper-sprayed by an officer. Body camera footage of the incident was released Sunday. According to the Rochester publication Democrat & Chronicle, police responded to a call about “family trouble.” The girl’s mother reportedly told police she was worried “her daughter would harm herself and others.”
Officers then tried to put the girl in the back of a patrol car, at which point she pulled away and kicked at them. In a statement Saturday, they said this action “required” an officer to take the girl down to the ground. Then, they said, “for the minor’s safety and at the request of the custodial parent on scene,” the child was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car as they waited for an American Medical Response ambulance to arrive.
Police said the girl — who during the episode repeatedly cried out for her father — disobeyed multiple commands to put her feet in the car. A Rochester police officer was then “required” to spray an “irritant” in the handcuffed girl’s face, the department said.
The incident has brought renewed scrutiny to the Rochester Police Department, months after the city was roiled by the disclosure that Daniel Prude, a Black man, suffocated to death last year after Rochester police officers had placed him in a hood.
WOW. @RochesterNYPD handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL during a family disturbance call. The officer says “You’re acting like a child.” And she responds “I am a child.” Remember #DanielPrude died at the hands of @RochesterNYPD last year. You cannot justify this!! pic.twitter.com/VdzPQLx0wG
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) February 1, 2021
An investigation is underway to determine whether the officers should be disciplined, but the local police union is defending the officers’ actions.
Rochester police union chief defending the pepper spraying of a 9-year-old girl:
"Had they had to go and push further, and use more force, there's a good chance she could have been hurt worse."
Not sure that's making your case stronger.pic.twitter.com/8BhokISXpo
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) February 1, 2021
This has opened up a debate though over how to deal with mental health on the scene of incidents like this. The Washington Post writes:
For local activists, the video is further proof that police treat people in the midst of mental health crises as criminals.
Sara Taylor, a social worker and administrator in Rochester, said her 12-year-old daughter has been arrested 10 times while suffering mental health crises. When Taylor’s daughter had an episode in November and called police, Taylor said they ignored her pleas for mental health care and handcuffed her.
Watch more from the ABC affiliate in Rochester above.
