A Six Year Old Arrested in Florida!!! Where’s The Outrage?

I didn’t believe it until I read about it in several different media reports. A six year old Florida girl was arrested and charged with battery. Apparently she threw a temper tantrum in class, resulting in law enforcement being summonded. They handcuffed her, transported her to the juvenile detention center (fancy name for “kid jail”) and then she was fingerprinted. As if that wasn’t enough humiliation, they also had her mugshot taken.
What country are we living in? Who in their right mind would ever order this to occur? The answer to “Who would do this?” is… Officer Dennis Turner, from the Orlando Police Department. Fortunately, we are now hearing that he broke protocol by not contacting his commander. I say, “Fortunately,” because I’d hate to think that this is the standard operating procedure in that jurisdiction. I would lose sleep knowing that this is the norm.
For what it’s worth, the child’s grandmother alleges that the girl suffers from sleep apnea and hasn’t been sleeping much lately. She believes the child’s behavior resulted from sleep depravation. Additionally, I’ve seen plenty of photos and video showing the size of the six year old child. She’s tiny. Think about the smallest Huxtable kid or grandkid. Yeah, that’s about right.
I certainly hope that Officer Turner is severely punished for his poor judgment. One doesn’t need to examine the numerous available studies on the subject to appreciate the enormous psychological harm a child suffers after undergoing an abhorrent experience like this. It was so avoidable.
I did some research and learned that Officer Turner isn’t the only officer arresting very young children in Florida. Broward County officers arrested a six year old for throwing rocks at a car. Palm Beach County officers arrested a five year old, accusing him of “sexual misdeeds with a friend.” The agency that stripped the liberty of the youngest Florida child is Hallendale Beach, who arrested a four year old for vandalizing a neighbor’s shed.
I am shocked. Why didn’t we know about this? Now that we do, where’s the outrage?