https://news.vice.com/article/cop-filmed-handcuffing-8-year-old-with-mental-disorder-slapped-with-lawsuit/

Cop Filmed Handcuffing 8-Year-Old With Mental Disorder Slapped With Lawsuit
By Olivia Becker

August 3, 2015 | 7:10 pm
Legal advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against a Kentucky sheriff's deputy who handcuffed two children with mental disorders in an elementary school in 2014, alleging that the students suffered trauma after being punished for behavior that they could not control.

Video of one of the incidents shows Kevin Sumner, a deputy with the Kenton County Sheriff's Office, pulling an 8-year-old boy's arms behind his back and placing handcuffs on his biceps. The third-grader — identified in the lawsuit by the initials S.R. — cries out in pain.

"You need to behave the way you know you're supposed to, or you'll suffer the consequences," Sumner tells the boy.

"If you want the handcuffs off, you're going to need to behave as I'm asking you — nicely," Sumner says. Sumner was assigned to work at Covington Independent Public Schools, a school district located in Kentucky just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. After attempting to discipline the student, school officials reportedly called Sumner to restrain him.

Various legal advocacy groups, including the Children's Law Center and the ACLU, filed the lawsuit against Sumner on behalf of the boy and another child who was restrained. The plaintiffs are seeking a change in policies by the Kenton County Sheriff's Office, and additional training for police officers who work with special needs children.

S.R. had previously been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the lawsuit.

Sumner also reportedly restrained a 9-year-old girl — identified as L.G. — earlier in the year in his police cruiser after a teacher asked for her to be escorted to another room. The girl had also been diagnosed with ADHD, and was handcuffed by Sumner in two separate incidents, according to Mother Jones.

Related: Cops Say Man Who Died After They Hogtied Him Was Having an 'Alleged LSD Overdose'

"These disciplinary practices… feed into the 'school-to-prison pipeline,' where children are funneled out of public schools and into the criminal justice system," the ACLU said in a statement. "Many of these children have disabilities, yet instead of receiving necessary educational and counseling services, they are often punished and pushed out."

The video is the latest case where police use excessive force on children in public schools has been documented. According to Mother Jones, which has been tracking incidents of police violence against K-12 students, at least 28 students have been seriously injured and one killed by police in the last five years.

Follow Olivia Becker on Twitter: @obecker928

TOPICS: officer involved, kentucky, elementary school, police officer, deputy sheriff, adhd, aclu, mental disorder, americas, kenton county sheriff's office, kevin sumner, ptsd, cincinnati, covington independent public schools.
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http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/08/adhd-third-graders-handcuffed/

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vDr8rzpjhZE&feature=youtu.be/

http://oliverwillis.com/2015/08/03/video-cops-put-third-grader-in-handcuffs/

F@ckbook page for Kenton Kentucky Sheriff's Department... is down

https://youtu.be/LbGC3gX2uQQ/

Growing up, we had NYC cops patrolling our hallways in the schools ( JHS and High School).

They did not seem to be the cream of the crop. Actually it looked like a outpost for police rejects. A punishment for pissing off your captain.

In reading this article it appears some things never change.

that's cruel

seems restraint is sometimes necessary,, and its hard to know the proper way to accomplish that since many dont approve of adults putting their hands on children either...'


if there is a known condition, they should be better prepared to handle potential problems,,,

Straight jackets for nutjobs, aren't part of the everyday gear, carried on a law enforcement officer.

If the little wackjobs' behaviour was deemed a threat to themselves or others, restraints were indeed in order.

Yes, but a good cop should all ways carry a strait jacket for nutjobs.

Hispanic boy and African-American girl.... Non-compliant.

I guess the ACLU is wasting government time and resources for bleeding heart liberal whining.
Sprinkles are for winners, I wonder who will get the sprinkles in this case.

No wonder police & military presence is increasing everywhere, with our PERMSSION ... by doing & feeling nothing & buying into the agenda crap.... that everything is about race.

More & more people have no empathy, think it is okay to traumatized children & special needs children. To have schools & the state/ government RAISE & brainwash & abuse children. And dictate to parents.

Guess what? YOU are next.

I knew a boy diagnosed with ADHD in the Boy Scouts when I was a kid.
Forget the handcuffs - I wished I had one of those full-restraint chairs complete with the metal hard-hat to hold the head in place.
While he wasn't exactly a "danger", he was annoying as all-get-out and kept breaking stuff or losing stuff. We had to deal with his disorder in a "politely ignore it" way, because he was a fellow Scout, but I can easily understand the frustration a police officer would feel when he wouldn't be allowed to perform any more serious restraint. Imagine what the officer could've done if an adult was acting that way - it would probably be construed as resisting arrest, public disturbance, or even assaulting an officer.

The result of this type of treatment (this isn't new) over time as these kids become adults is the latest suicidebycop theatre shooting. Annoying.... Last time I checked it wasn't illegal to be annoying. It's evidence that treating people like crap because they're (not mentally ill) adhd has consequences that we can't control or predict.

Our laws are (supposed to) outlaw cruel and unusual punishment FOR CRIMINALS. Violent criminals David Sweat and Richard Matt Escaped from a part of the prison they were in called the 'Honor Block' that had lower security and LOTS of PRIVILEGES. Wtf?

So if the kid you're referring to wasn't a danger like these 8 and 9 year olds why would the 'Resource' Officer involved in the first place? The reports said that attempts by the teacher and the principle were 'unsuccessful' in resolving the problem. What that tells us is that the school was only qualified to 'teach' 'good (normal) children'. If the children in question were indeed special needs adhd or whatever should they not be in a class with a teacher that is QUALIFIED to handle children and situations such as these? It seems pretty obvious that the parents were not called BEFORE the school handed the children off to the police officer to be (illegally) physically restrained. When I was a kid and my shenanigans got me in trouble I used to pray they didn't call my parents, that was the worst punishment I ever got in school. I would rather picked a fight with the biggest baddest bullies there were than for my parents to be called. It was also stated that the Sheriff's Dept 'stands behind their officer' for essentially CHILD ABUSE. Hmmmm....

What can we learn from this? Look act dress sound think and react like everyone else or be tortured. But back to your adhd boy scout... Maybe he wasn't a cool kid, maybe he wasn't fun to be around. Maybe he could be difficult at times. Maybe that's an understatement. What if your neighbors or your boss felt that wayabout you? What if he was being abused at home and adhd was just a label that stuck to him because his doctors were just trying stuff to see what worked? Apparently being diagnosed (and treated for) with adhd didn't have the 'desired effect'. Should he be banned from being a boy scout? Should he be unlawfully physically restrained in a way that was obviously intended to cause pain that even dangerous adult criminals wouldn't (normally) be?

It should be 'Re-sourced or Re-purposed' officer. They should be a resource for the school in the event there does arise a need for students and or faculty to need protection from an actual threat. To me this looks like more than the officer should have charges pressed against them. If it's a juggernaut high school senior student athlete knocking out teachers, understood, but these are small frail 8 and 9 year old children. It also appears to be standard operating procedure for the school since the faculty made their 'cya' statements it's handed over to law enforcement and nobody is supposed to question them. "I asked you not to kick, if you behave like I asked you to <I''ll take the cuffs off>"
Not allowed to have a temper tantrum *typical behavior for an 8-9 year old and/or a child with adhd*
Its a good thing the kid wasn't epileptic, they might have beaten him to death. Amazingly this wasn't asked to any of the republican candidates during the debates. Isn't one of the candidates a sitting Senator from Kentucky?

Frustrated cops taking out their personal vendetta on civilians that do not deserved to be treated such way

at least he didnt throw them in the back of a cop car,,,

I dont know what I would do since we live in a time where 'you better not touch my child',,,even physical restraint could have caused similar discomfort,,,,,


however, teachers should be trained for their particular student base

they are, well at least her in Texas. It's called NVCI, for "Non Violent Crisis Intervention". All have to have this required training every year even bus drivers and bus aides.

sure do need that,when the Kid kicks you anywhere from your Shin-bone to your Belly-Button!

I drove a "Special Needs" school bus for 15 yrs, all ages. Saw aides
with broken noses and all kinds of stuff. Autistic kids are very strong and unpredictable. We had restraints to put on them for their safety and ours.

And then there is the chance that the restraints will teach a lesson that won't be forgotten.

Imagine that, an organization with guidelines training and qualifications. Im fairly inclined to believe that parents and faculty came together to create this and it may actually benefit the children and the community. Everything actually needed by this Kentucky school is contained in four words.

"Non Violent Crisis Intervention"

I wonder if anyone who's had said training would (in their expert opinions) identify the two small frail rather docile children as a 'threat'.

To break a nose one would have to be able to reach that nose to do so. Being handcuffed above the elbow behind the back adds a considerable degree of difficulty.
I get what you're saying but having someone really just making noise because they're in physical pain is very different from an all age group of various different challenges moving on the highway. It's one kid separated from any children who may have been in danger. Add to that the resource officer was Uuge. Then there's the law aspect of this. If it were a teacher aide or teacher who didn't know the law or had some reasonable ideation of protecting the other kids it wouldn't be as bad. State law prohibits it and the entire sheriff's dept should know that. I didn't see a beast-child breaking furniture and knocking out adults.

most public schools train their special education teachers and parapros who assist in the classroom various techniques to use when a student has a melt down and is need of restraint.
Most schools also have a crises intervention team who are trained to come into the schools when needed.


Restraint and seclusion must be used only as a last resort and only as long as the
emergency lasts.  There is no need or reason to use them otherwise.  De‐escalation and
conflict mediation techniques and positive interventions should be used

someone suggested a quiet room thats padded, with a special training to stay and deescalate their episode

the 'threat' is the concern that they hurt themselves or others during an outburst