6-Year-Olds Under Arrest

Bob Herbert: 6-Year-Olds Under Arrest

Welcome to Pottersville
Wednesday April 11, 2007

When 6-year-old Desre'e Watson threw a tantrum in her kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago she could not have known that the full force of the law would be brought down on her and that she would be carted off by the police as a felon.

But that's what happened in this small, backward city in central Florida. According to the authorities, there were no other options.

"The student became violent," said Frank Mercurio, the no-nonsense chief of the Avon Park police. "She was yelling, screaming ?- just being uncontrollable. Defiant."

"But she was 6," I said.

The chief's reply came faster than a speeding bullet: "Do you think this is the first 6-year-old we've arrested?"

The child's tantrum occurred on the morning of March 28 at the Avon Elementary School. According to the police report, "Watson was upset and crying and wailing and would not leave the classroom to let them study, causing a disruption of the normal class activities."

After a few minutes, Desre'e was, in fact, taken to another room. She was "isolated," the chief said. But she would not calm down. She flailed away at the teachers who tried to control her. She pulled one woman's hair. She was kicking.

I asked the chief if anyone had been hurt. "Yes," he said. At least one woman reported "some redness."

After 20 minutes of this "uncontrollable" behavior, the police were called in. At the sight of the two officers, Chief Mercurio said, Desre'e "tried to take flight."

She went under a table. One of the police officers went after her. Each time the officer tried to grab her to drag her out, Desre'e would pull her legs away, the chief said.

Ultimately the child was no match for Avon Park's finest. The cops pulled her from under the table and handcuffed her. The officers were not fooling around. In the eyes of the cops the 6-year-old was a criminal, and in Avon Park she would be treated like any other felon.

There was a problem, though. The handcuffs were not manufactured with kindergarten kids in mind. The chief explained: "You can't handcuff them on their wrists because their wrists are too small, so you have to handcuff them up by their biceps."

As I sat listening to Chief Mercurio in a spotless, air-conditioned conference room at the Avon Park police headquarters, I had the feeling that I had somehow stumbled into the middle of a skit on "Saturday Night Live." The chief seemed like the most reasonable of men, but what was coming out of his mouth was madness.

He handed me a copy of the police report: black female. Six years old. Thin build. Dark complexion.

Desre'e was put in the back of a patrol car and driven to the police station. "Then," said Chief Mercurio, "she was transported to central booking, which is the county jail."

The child was fingerprinted and a mug shot was taken. "Those are the normal procedures for anyone who is arrested," the chief said.

Desre'e was charged with battery on a school official, which is a felony, and two misdemeanors: disruption of a school function and resisting a law enforcement officer. After a brief stay at the county jail, she was released to the custody of her mother.

The arrest of this child, who should have been placed in the care of competent, comforting professionals rather than being hauled off to jail, is part of an outlandish trend of criminalizing very young children that has spread to many school districts and law enforcement agencies across the country.

A highly disproportionate number of those youngsters, like Desre'e, are black. In Baltimore last month, the police arrested, handcuffed and hauled away a 7-year-old black boy for allegedly riding a dirt bike on the sidewalk. The youngster was released and the mayor, Sheila Dixon, apologized for the incident, saying the arrest was inappropriate.

Last spring a number of civil rights organizations collaborated on a study of disciplinary practices in Florida schools and concluded that many of them, "like many districts in other states, have turned away from traditional education-based disciplinary methods ?- such as counseling, after-school detention, or extra homework assignments ?- and are looking to the legal system to handle even the most minor transgressions."

Once you adopt the mindset that ordinary childhood misbehavior is criminal behavior, it's easy to start seeing young children as somehow monstrous.

"Believe me when I tell you," said Chief Mercurio, "a 6-year-old can inflict injury to you just as much as any other person."