6 Year Old Arrested For Having Tantrum At School

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
'A literal mug shot of a 6-year-old girl:' Grandmother outraged over child's arrest
Tantrum led to girl being arrested at school

ORLANDO, Fla.
- A local woman is speaking out after her 6-year-old granddaughter was handcuffed and arrested as a result of an in-school tantrum.

Meralyn Kirkland said she was shocked Thursday when she got a call saying a school resource officer at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy, an Orlando charter school, arrested 6-year-old Kaia Rolle.

Kirkland said Rolle was acting out in class, a side effect of a lack of sleep from a medical condition, so she was sent to the office. While Rolle was there, a staff member grabbed her wrists in order to calm her down and that's when she lashed out and kicked, according to Kirkland.

She said Officer Dennis Turner didn't understand when she tried to explain Rolle's behavior.

"She has a medical condition that we are working on getting resolved, and he says, ''What medical condition?' 'She has a sleep disorder, sleep apnea,' and he says, 'Well, I have sleep apnea, and I don't behave like that,'" Kirkland said.

Rolle was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center on a battery charge.

"How do you do that to a 6-year-old child and because she kicked somebody?" Kirkland asked.

Speaking about the arrest Friday, Kirkland struggled to hold back tears.

"A literal mug shot of a 6-year-old girl," she said in disbelief.

Rolle tried to stay strong for her grandmother as she recalled the incident.

"I felt sad that my grandma was sad, and I really missed her," she said.

Orlando Police Department officials said Rolle was one of two children Turner arrested that day, the other was 8 years old. Per department policy, officers are required to seek approval from their watch commander before arresting anyone under 12, but according to Sgt. David Baker, Turner didn't do that.

An internal investigation into the arrests is ongoing.

While Kirkland now has to deal with the repercussions of the arrest, including an upcoming court date, she hopes no child has to experience what her granddaughter went through.

"No 6-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them and they were riding in the back of a police car and taken to a juvenile center to be fingerprinted, mug shot," Kirkland said.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
Florida school resource officer who arrested two kids, ages 6 and 8, is under investigation

Authorities are investigating after an Orlando school resource officer arrested two elementary school students ages 6 and 8 on misdemeanor charges.

Officer Dennis Turner is facing an internal investigation because he failed to follow department policy that requires officers to obtain approval from a watch commander before arresting minors younger than 12, Chief Orlando Rolon said in a statement. Turner's duties have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

"The Orlando Police Department has a policy that addresses the arrest of a minor and our initial finding shows the policy was not followed," Rolon said. "As a grandparent of three children less than 11 years old this is very concerning to me."

The 8-year-old was transported to and processed in a juvenile jail by an officer who was unaware the Thursday arrest hadn't been approved by a superior, Rolon said. The child was released to family members shortly after.

Rolon said the officer transporting the 6-year-old, who was arrested in a separate incident, realized approval hadn't been obtained and stopped the process "immediately." The child was released back to the school before being processed at the Juvenile Assessment Center.

Police did not name the children because of child privacy laws, but Meralyn Kirkland told WKMG-TV that her granddaughter was one of the students arrested. She said the 6-year-old was arrested because she was acting out in class at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy.

The school did not immediately return a request for comment.

Kirkland said her granddaughter kicked a staff member who grabbed her wrists in an attempt to calm her down, the station reported. Kirkland said she tried to explain to Turner that the behavior was the result of lack of sleep because of a medical condition that they are working on treating.

"He says, 'What medical condition?' 'She has a sleep disorder, sleep apnea,' and he says, 'Well, I have sleep apnea, and I don't behave like that,' " Kirkland told the station.

Kirkland said the first-grade student was taken to a juvenile detention center on a battery charge and has an upcoming court date as a result of the arrest.

"No 6-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them and they were riding in the back of a police car and taken to a juvenile center to be fingerprinted, mug shot," Kirkland told WKMG-TV.
 

Anacaona

Well-Known Member
Not that this is acceptable either way but was this some scare tactic to ‘scare her straight’ or are they serious about these court dates and putting this on this little girls’ record?
 

Mitzi

Well-Known Member
I'm assuming this family is Black? The role of this SRO is to supply the school to jail pipeline for profit. We need to be asking why they need them at the schools because minorities are 3 times more likely to be arrested than White kids. School shootings and other dangers? Surely, we have them but, that is not the primary reason these schools employ SRO's and I'm sure of it. This slipped in under our radar and now we view it as normal just as we now view surveillance of all our public activities as normal.
 

Ms. Tarabotti

Well-Known Member
What's the charge for this 'vicious' criminal? :rolleyes:

It's not procedure to call, I don't know, the child's parents or grandparents or contact on record if the child has a problem in school? Are people not trained in how to respond to a child who might be having a meltdown? There was no need to grab her wrists.

And why does a cop with priors for child abuse and assault still allowed to be on the force and allowed contact with minors?
 

dicapr

Well-Known Member
What's the charge for this 'vicious' criminal? :rolleyes:

It's not procedure to call, I don't know, the child's parents or grandparents or contact on record if the child has a problem in school? Are people not trained in how to respond to a child who might be having a meltdown? There was no need to grab her wrists.

And why does a cop with priors for child abuse and assault still allowed to be on the force and allowed contact with minors?

There was no need to arrest the child. If the child has known behavior issues that can cause them to be a danger to themselves or others trained staff can restrain them. However grabbing someone by the wrist seems more like a self defense mode than anything else which I don’t blame the teacher for.
 

Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
Here's the vicious criminal with her grandma...
upload_2019-9-23_14-6-31.png


The cop sounds callous .. I'd think the effect of sleep-apnea is different on a full-grown adult than on a child.. why is he even allowed to work around children if he's been charged with aggravated abuse of a child?
 

PopLife

Well-Known Member
Here's the vicious criminal with her grandma...
View attachment 451653


The cop sounds callous .. I'd think the effect of sleep-apnea is different on a full-grown adult than on a child.. why is he even allowed to work around children if he's been charged with aggravated abuse of a child?

My son recently had his adenoids and tonsils removed due to sleep-apnea. He was falling asleep during class and having a lot of behavioral issues in school. Since the surgery (not even six months ago) we have seen a huge improvement in his behavior. This story hurts my heart because people do not understand how serious sleep deprivation is.
 

dicapr

Well-Known Member
Here's the vicious criminal with her grandma...
View attachment 451653


The cop sounds callous .. I'd think the effect of sleep-apnea is different on a full-grown adult than on a child.. why is he even allowed to work around children if he's been charged with aggravated abuse of a child?

who knows why he is allowed to work. But the fact that he has sleep apnea and his rage issues may go hand and hand. But as an adult he should be able to control himself. Children cannot.
 

Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
All the more reason for him to be more empathetic concerning the child and be more understanding toward the grandmom.. if he cannot control himself, he should not be a police officer


who knows why he is allowed to work. But the fact that he has sleep apnea and his rage issues may go hand and hand. But as an adult he should be able to control himself. Children cannot.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
The first article says the 6 year old was arrested, taken to a juvenile center, mug shot and fingerprinted. And there’s a pending court case.

The second article says that the transporting officer realized there was no approval to arrest the 6 year old, and immediately released the child back to the school. And never took the child to the juvenile center.

Which is it?
 

dicapr

Well-Known Member
All the more reason for him to be more empathetic concerning the child and be more understanding toward the grandmom.. if he cannot control himself, he should not be a police officer

Being chronically sleep deprived does not yield reasonable responses or empathy. As a raging insomniac when you are going through a no sleep phase you have zero patience. You are impaired. And you tend to be over emotional and over react.

But as an adult you need to recognize the situation and take appropriate action. Adults can not get mad and throw temper tantrums and arrest 6 year olds.

I have had to explain my situation to my supervisor before and take unplanned vacation days until I was able to get myself together. At no time did I think it was ok to take it out on others.
 

LavenderMint

Well-Known Member
The first article says the 6 year old was arrested, taken to a juvenile center, mug shot and fingerprinted. And there’s a pending court case.

The second article says that the transporting officer realized there was no approval to arrest the 6 year old, and immediately released the child back to the school. And never took the child to the juvenile center.

Which is it?
I thought they meant two different children, the 6 year old & an 8 year old, and the 8 year olds transporting officer realized the lack of approval.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
I thought they meant two different children, the 6 year old & an 8 year old, and the 8 year olds transporting officer realized the lack of approval.

It says the 6 year olds transporting officer.

Rolon said the officer transporting the 6-year-old, who was arrested in a separate incident, realized approval hadn't been obtained and stopped the process "immediately." The child was released back to the school before being processed at the Juvenile Assessment Center.
 

LavenderMint

Well-Known Member
It says the 6 year olds transporting officer.
Oh, yikes!! I read that completely backwards... likely because you’re right and it doesn’t make sense.

I didn't know the officer is black.

He didn't have to arrest her.

Let me ask ya'll
If the little girl is kicking people and tearing up the place, How should the staff have handled it?
At my school, this wouldn’t even be considered behavior worthy of calling school police- not for a six year old child. In the time I’ve been teaching, I’ve been hit, kicked, punched, etc by normally developing 4-6 year old children. Acceptable, no, not by a long shot. But we knew these children had underlying issues effecting them and that they needed care & compassion more than punishment. If the student is in crisis, the mental health support team is called- school therapist, social worker, school psychologist, etc.
The only time we’ve called the police has been in cases for older children in the midst of crisis, where self-harm has been imminent.
 

HappilyLiberal

Well-Known Member
The first article says the 6 year old was arrested, taken to a juvenile center, mug shot and fingerprinted. And there’s a pending court case.

The second article says that the transporting officer realized there was no approval to arrest the 6 year old, and immediately released the child back to the school. And never took the child to the juvenile center.

Which is it?

There were two kids. Baby girl was arrested and taken downtown. They ordered rent-a-cop to take the second child back.
 

Shula

Well-Known Member
I think character comes into play here. I have been a raging insomniac since the age of 17. I sleep 2-4 hours a night on average lately. When my baby was sick with liver failure, I went DAYS without a wink at times because I'm told that patients with serious liver disease have vicious sleep disturbance and I had to be on deck for caregiving. All this to say, I don't care how much sleep a person is not getting, if you are a decent human being, it would never occur to you to harm a child. If it does occur to you to hurt people because you're sleepy and tired, become a hermit. All sorts of people in many situations the world over go without sleep for whatever reason and don't use it as an excuse to hurt or lash out at others.

As noted by this dude's history, he is simply a bad egg.
 

Evolving78

Well-Known Member
I'm assuming this family is Black? The role of this SRO is to supply the school to jail pipeline for profit. We need to be asking why they need them at the schools because minorities are 3 times more likely to be arrested than White kids. School shootings and other dangers? Surely, we have them but, that is not the primary reason these schools employ SRO's and I'm sure of it. This slipped in under our radar and now we view it as normal just as we now view surveillance of all our public activities as normal.
This has been going on for the last 30 years in predominately black public schools. I know of this because I speak from experience. I have attended predominately white and black and have definitely seen the difference. And I see an office come to the school and pull up children’s registration records and pull children out of class all of the time.
 
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