A sheriff’s office in New York defended two deputies who detained and handcuffed an 11-year-old girl this week, saying that she matched the description of a suspect. The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, responding to criticism after a video of the encounter was posted online, called the deputies’ actions “reasonable” but said the office would change its policy to notify a parent or guardian of any child who is detained for criminal investigative purposes, which it did not do in this instance.
The 11-year-old, who has not been publicly identified, was handcuffed for seven minutes by the deputies Monday afternoon in Syracuse, according to a timeline of her detainment released by the sheriff’s office, which said she was dressed similarly to a person who was wanted in connection with the theft of a car. The girl was detained a few blocks from where the stolen car was initially observed, the sheriff’s office said.
The suspect, who, like the girl, is Black, has not been identified or captured. She was recorded by the dashcam of a deputy’s patrol vehicle as she was fleeing from the stolen vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
A woman who identified herself on Facebook as the 11-year-old’s mother and shared videos on her page of the girl’s interaction with the deputies could not immediately be reached. Her Facebook post had been shared nearly 6,000 times as of early Thursday afternoon and garnered more than 130 comments, the vast majority of them criticizing the sheriff’s office for having handcuffed the girl and not having notified her parents that she had been detained.
In the video, the girl stands with two deputies on a snow-filled sidewalk with her hands cuffed behind her back. One of the deputies tells the children who were with the girl that they can keep going, but one of the children responds that she has to stay with the girl because they’re related.
“We can’t just leave her,” one of the children can be heard saying.
One of the children tells the deputies that they were coming from school. The female deputy tells the handcuffed girl that someone wearing “the exact same thing you’re wearing just stole a car,” prompting one of the children to respond: “We can’t drive.”
The female deputy tells her: “What do you mean? Most kids can’t drive and they’re still out here stealing cars.”
The children tell the deputies they had been playing in the snow on their way home from school.
The deputies tell the children that the suspect was wearing an outfit similar to the 11-year-old girl’s — a pink jacket and camouflage pants.
“The exact same description,” the male deputy says.
The female deputy tells the children that she’s waiting to be sent a picture of the suspect and if it isn’t the girl they detained, they will let her go.
Once the deputy receives the photo, she holds up her cellphone and asks the child she detained: “Girl, you’re gonna tell me this ain’t you?”
The children gather around the deputy to view the photo and point out the disparities between the girl and the suspect, including differences in their complexion and the shoes they were wearing. At one point in the video, the girl can be heard crying.
The sheriff’s office said a deputy with direct view of the dashcam footage had used FaceTime to view the handcuffed child and determined she was not a suspect. The sheriff’s office said it documented differences between the girl and the suspect, including in the camouflage pattern of their pants, the grain of their pink jackets, the length of their hair and their complexions, the agency said in a statement.
“This situation was cleared up quickly, largely due to the juvenile’s disposition, patience, and cooperation,” the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff Tobias Shelley said he had met with the girl’s mother to discuss her concerns and that he understood why she was upset about not having been informed that her daughter was handcuffed. The sheriff’s office said it would change its policy “to notify a parent or guardian of any juvenile who is detained for criminal investigative purposes, no matter how brief the encounter is.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union condemned the deputies’ actions, saying in a statement that it was “extremely disturbed by the aggressive treatment of an 11-year-old Black child at the hands of Syracuse Sheriff’s deputies, and their failure to notify the child’s parents.”
“This mistreatment raises serious concerns about implicit racial bias, which too often leads law enforcement officers to perceive children of color as a threat. It also raises questions about appropriate training and protocols in the Sheriff’s office,” the civil rights organization said. “The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office must engage the community in dialogue and make further changes with community input.”
The sheriff’s office said in a statement, “Detainees are usually handcuffed initially” because they may become uncooperative, flee or fight.
“Handcuffing juveniles in this circumstance is lawful, within policy, and common practice in law enforcement,” the statement said.
The girl’s mother told NBC affiliate WSTM-TV in Syracuse that she could not comprehend what she saw when she watched the video.
“Even if it wasn’t my child, I wouldn’t be able to finish watching the video because that’s not how you handle children,” she told the station.
