The police in Mississippi must have nothing better to do these days.
A Senatobia Police Department officer is headed to the unemployment line after being fired for detaining a child who was urinating behind a vehicle, Fox 13 Memphis reports. Quantavious Eason, 10, was using the bathroom outside on Aug.10 while his mother, Latonya Eason, stopped by a Mississippi lawyer’s office. Needing to use the bathroom, Eason said her son went behind her car to handle his business.
Suddenly, Mississippi officers spotted him, stopped, and put him in the back of a squad car. Eason says she knew it was wrong but felt the police went overboard. “No, him urinating
in the parking lot was not right, but at the same time, I handled it like a parent, and for one officer to tell my baby to get back in the car it was OK and to have the other pull up and take him to jail,” Eason said.“I’m just speechless right now. Why would you arrest a 10-year-old- kid.”
Quantavious was taken to a Mississippi police station, where he says he was put in a jail cell. He was charged with child in need of services and then released to his mother. Eleven days later, the officer was then fired. His mother believes the officers went overboard in their response. “That could really traumatize my baby,” Eason said, according to WSAZ. “My baby could get to the point where he don’t wanna have an encounter with police – period.”
Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler agrees with Eason, saying the child should have never been taken to the police station. He admits his officer made an “error in judgment.” “Under these circumstances, it was an error in judgment for us to transport the child to the police station
since the mother was present at that time as a reasonable alternative,” Chandler said. “Mistakes like this are a reminder in this profession as to the continual need for training and refreshers on the various topics that we encounter each day.”Chandler noted that Quantavious was not handcuffed during the incident.
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