Police officers handcuffed a kindergarten girl’s hands behind her back after she reportedly thew a temper tantrum at a school in central Georgia.
The family of 6-year-old Salencia Johnson are demanding answers and change in school and police departmental policies after the school called the police to detain her after she went on a temper spree in Milledgeville, Ga., about three hours south of Atlanta.
Salecia Johnson was accused of tearing items off the walls and throwing books and toys in an outburst Friday at Creekside Elementary School.
Allegedly, a small shelf thrown by the child struck the principal in the leg during the mini-rampage. The child also jumped on a paper shredder and tried to break a glass frame, the police report states.
When an officer tried to calm the child in the principal’s office, she resisted, police say, so she “was restrained by placing her hands behind her back and handcuffed,” a police report states.
Interim police chief Dray Swicord said “The reason we handcuff detainees is for the safety of themselves as well as the officer.
The girl’s aunt, Candace Ruff, went with the child’s mother to pick her up from the police station. She said Salecia had been in a holding cell and complained about the handcuffs.
“She said they were really tight. She said they really hurt her wrists,” Ruff said. “She was so shaken up when we went there to pick her up.”
–terry shropshire
