According to CBS News Sacramento, a recent audit revealed multiple civil rights violations in California’s capital, including one where police officers handcuffed a 10-year-old Black girl.
City officials admitted that someone so young should not have had to experience an ordeal. The video showed the girl crying for her mother as she was being placed in cuffs. It was one of several that showed the racial bias and misconduct that Sacramento police officers many sadly consider standard operating procedure. .
“I wish I could say ‘shocked,'” said Meg White, the co-founder of Justice Unites Individuals and Communities Everywhere. “Unfortunately, Sacramento has a history of being very brutal, specifically with Black residents.”
The audit, compiled by The Sacramento Office of Public Safety, includes more than 100 complaints filed against the Sacramento Police Department over two years.
According to Inside Edition, Police Chief Kathy Lester admitted the young girl should never have been handcuffed, telling council members “there is no circumstance where it’s OK to handcuff a 10-year-old, regardless of race.”
The video shows several police officers, all white males, screaming at people to open the doors while shaking the front security door. They alleged that the resident had weapons, a stolen car, and was a “known gang member,” according to police officials.
“Come outside right now,” an officer yells. “You don’t get to go and hide and turn off the lights. That’s not how this works.” The young girl comes out crying and tells the police officer, “I’m scared, I’m scared, mommy,” she cries. “I’m scared I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”
She was immediately handcuffed following this incident.
“She should not have been handcuffed even for a second,” City Inspector General Dwight White said. “If this girl was another race, she likely wouldn’t have been handcuffed.” Lester said the department does not have a policy about handcuffing children but will work to develop one.