Raw footage from an incident which took place in Tallahassee, Florida, shows a barefoot little girl of about 2 years old attempting to come out of a pick up truck after the Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) pulled over the car on suspicion of shoplifting.
She is then seen slowly going up to the police officers along the road where they have her father handcuffed, imitating her father’s actions of having her arms up as if she was surrendering herself.
The person who was filming the footage can be heard saying : “She’s trying to get out but she – Oh my god. No. She’s trying to get out but she can’t cos she’s little. Oh, she’s holding her hands up. Oh my god, look at that she’s so pretty. Ma, he is holding a gun at the baby.” When one of the witnesses thought the police were holding the gun to the baby, the other disputes that saying: “No, they’re holding the gun at the car.”
Police allowed the mother to come up to her daughter and get her one-year old son in the backseat of their car. It was only then that they proceeded to search the vehicle.
While the viral mobile footage grew criticism at the officers, TPD released their own body cam of the incident last January 18 showing the officers’ side of the arrest. “The body camera footage shows the officers’ concern for the children and their compassion as they permitted the mother to care for the children. “I am proud of how officers handled the situation, how they adapted when they became aware of the children, the level of concern and compassion they showed to the family.“ Stated TDP Chief Michael DeLeo.
Chad M. Bom and James W.McMullen were arrested on shoplifting charges and a pellet gun was found in the back seat during a search of the truck. Chief DeLeo mentioned to the Tallahassee Democrat Newspaper that the reason why the officers were heavily armed during the arrest was because the store reported that the suspects had a weapon with them. The department said they were satisfied at how the police officers handled the incident with appropriate action.
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Source: Bernard Stevens
True Activist / Report a typo
