11-year-old girl handcuffed when NY deputies mistake her for auto theft suspect
A sheriff's office in New York said it's changing its policy on detaining children after video of an 11-year-old Black girl crying while in handcuffs was shared widely online.
The girl was detained in Syracuse in a case of mistaken identity, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office said. She was stopped and handcuffed on Monday because deputies thought she matched the description of a suspect in a car theft and was wearing "the exact clothing" as the suspect.
In the video, which was taken by another girl who said she was the 11-year-old's cousin and published by local station WSTM, the girl is seen bursting into tears after denying that she is the girl in a photo taken from officer dashcam footage of the occupants fleeing from the stolen Kia several blocks away.
"Girl, you gonna tell me that this ain't you?" a female deputy said to the girl in the video.
"That's not her," the other children present said.
What led to the 11-year-old girl being handcuffed?
The sheriff's office said in a statement that its deputies were responding to a stolen gray Kia and followed it until it stopped and all four occupants fled on foot. A 14-year-old who was driving was taken into custody and two other males matching the description of the occupants were spotted nearby.
Deputies also spotted the 11-year-old girl and said she matched the description of the fourth occupant of the car. She'd been walking home from school with friends and relatives, the children with her told the deputies.
The girl was "detained without force," the sheriff's office said, and handcuffed for a total of under 7 minutes while the deputies communicated with other deputies and compared her to dash camera footage of the suspect fleeing the stolen car.
"Upon detainment, deputies diligently tried to quickly compare the juvenile with video evidence obtained via dashcam. In that comparison, it was clear that the detained juvenile was not the suspect we were seeking, and she was immediately released," the sheriff's office said in the statement, adding that she was ruled out as the suspect "based on the camo pattern of the pants, the 'grain' of the puffy jacket, the length of hair, and complexion differences."
The girl was then released, the sheriff's office said, adding that the deputies' actions were "lawful and reasonable" because of the girl's proximity to the alleged crime and matching description.
Deputies will now contact parents when kids are stopped
The sheriff's office said after discussing the incident with the girl's mother and hearing her concerns, the office will contact any minor's parents or guardians when they are detained "for criminal investigative purposes, no matter how brief the encounter is." Previously, its policy was to only contact parents when arresting a child.
Police handcuffing kids draws national scrutiny
The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office said deputies usually handcuff any detainee initially because they may become uncooperative, try to run away or fight.
"Handcuffing juveniles in this circumstance is lawful, within policy, and common practice in law enforcement," the sheriff's office said.
It's not the first time the arrest or handcuffing of kids has prompted outcries around the country. In 2020, video of an 8-year-old's arrest two years earlier was released showing officers at a Florida school attempting to cuff the child but giving up because he was too small.
Last year, a Detroit judge's decision to handcuff and threaten a teen girl with incarceration for falling asleep during a field trip to his courtroom led to widespread condemnation.
A Paste BN analysis of crime reports found that at least 2,600 children the ages of 5 to 9 were arrested in schools from 2000 to 2019, including cases where young children were handcuffed and later suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.