City of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said Wednesday that she agrees with a review of police policy when it comes to handcuffing minors.
The review stems from an incident on Sunday in which a 10-year-old girl was handcuffed after she refused multiple times to stay away from the road during a traffic stop on Route 104 near Hollenbeck Street.
Warren and Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary are on board with City Council President Loretta and Public Safety Chair Willie Lightfoot as they begin to take steps toward conducting research on policies related to restraining children and young adults, as well as a review of the incident. Singletary said there are currently no age restrictions or rules related to handcuffing.
“I don’t think that handcuffing a child is something that we should do,” Warren said. “We have to make sure that, as adults, we not put our children in situation and in harm’s way and that we protect them from trauma. We recognize that trauma is life-long and experiences that children have when they are young can impact them well into adulthood.”
After being stopped for an expired inspection status and lack of a front license plate, the adult driver and two adult passengers were taken out of the vehicle and placed under arrest for obstructing governmental administration.
According to Singletary, who watched the RPD body camera footage of the incident, the girl was then asked to exit the vehicle away from traffic and stay away from the roadway. Singletary said after she began to pull away from police during the encounter, one of the officers handcuffed the child and moved her to the side of the road for safety reasons.
“This traffic stop occurred on the highway, Route 104, where you have cars traveling down the road in excess of 55 miles an hour,” Singletary said during an interview on Monday. “For the safety of everyone involved, the officer made a decision to put the child in handcuffs and escort her to the side of the road.”
Singletary said the child was never placed under arrest, but part of the review is looking into how long the girl was in handcuffs. Family members dispute the officers’ characterization of the incident, saying the girl was “thrown” in the back of a police car and she has bruising and anxiety from the incident.
The Professional Standards Section is looking into the incident to see if the officers’ actions were warranted. The officers involved in the incident remain on the street.
In a statement, the New York Civil Liberties Union called for an immediate investigation, adding that law enforcement and city government need to be held accountable.
“The pattern of RPD using force on minors, and especially black youth, shows a glaring, systematic bias in the behavior of officers on the force,” Genesee Valley Region Chapter Director Iman Abid said. “To have any measure of safety or justice, people of color in Rochester need to know that contact with law enforcement officers won’t lead to harm or danger. But the signal is sent time and again that police will escalate situations and use force without adequate oversight, review, or repercussions. Just last week a judge stripped the police accountability board of its disciplinary powers, and this week a child was placed in handcuffs. We need answers, accountability, and change now.”
The Rochester Police Locust Club, the police union, issued a statement of its own, calling the response by city officials “demoralizing” and adding that the problem is “not with the police officers doing their jobs…but with the leadership of this city.”
— 13 WHAM