lockin up youngins...yay or nay?

[tapout]

DIXON: IT'S 'WRONG' TO BUST 7-YEAR-OLD BOY ...
Sunday March 18th 2007 11:59 AM

Stephen Janis, The Examiner
Mar 17, 2007 3:00 AM (1 day ago)

BALTIMORE - Mayor Sheila Dixon apologized at a news conference Friday to the parents of Gerard Mongo Jr., the 7-year-old boy who was sitting on a dirt bike Wednesday when police arrested him and hauled him away in handcuffs to fingerprint him.

“I want to let the parents know I am disheartened by this, and that I’m sorry,” Dixon said. “It is clear to me the arrest was wrong.”

“The officers on the scene should not have arrested the child,” she said.

In a rare acknowledgment, Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm, who attended the news conference, said that the arresting officer could have acted differently.

“He had other options,” Hamm said. He declined to elaborate on what the officer could have done.

City leaders were still fuming about the arrest that was first reported by The Examiner Thursday.

Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Friday the group’s members were outraged by the arrest. “It is inexcusable and angers us that we have a police force that feels this is what it means to protect and serve.”

Baltimore Del. Jill Carter said, “We’d be better off if the police were spending their time going after people who are harming our children.”

Hamm said the case against the child has been dropped. None of the officers involved have been suspended pending the investigation, Hamm said.

Hamm also said he did not know if the child was riding the bike at the time of his arrest.

“That’s a gray area,” he said.

Gerard and his mother, Lekisha Dinkins, who wept during an interview with The Examiner, disputed the police claims. Dinkins said her son was sitting on the bike, and she had the key in her house. Police officials initially said he was observed riding the bike by the arresting officer. Since the arrest, Dinkins said her first-grade son has had trouble sleeping after being detained at the Eastern District headquarters where he was questioned by police.

Dixon said she hoped the arrest would not strain the relationship between the police and the community.

[Rhino]

There's a law in my state that exempts any child under the age of 13 for being found guilty of a crime. Doesn't mean they can't be charged, but it will be dropped once it hits juvie court.

[tapout]

in md 7 is the youngest you can be to be charged, and i have arrested a 7 year old for 1st degree burglary, in connection with 5 other arrests for that incident. the group broke a small basement window and lowered the 7 year old down to the ground, and he in turn ran up and opened the front door for them to enter the house and steal various things....generally speaking, i think its common sense to find other alternatives when available in most cases.

also, when i arrested my 7 yr old, i drove him to his mother and had her sign, i didnt fingerprint and photograph him. in fact, usually when i arrest a younger juvie, i simply release them to their parents and have their parents sign a form stating they are aware of the charges. its rare that i print and photograph a juvenile, unless they are over 14 and being charged with certain crimes, or are possible suspects in other crimes, where having their prints could be beneficial.

heres a 2nd article i found on this


BUSTED: 7-YEAR-OLD CUFFED, FINGERPRINTED ...
Thursday March 15th 2007 8:11 AM

Stephen Janis, The Examiner
Mar 15, 2007 3:00 AM (8 hrs ago)

BALTIMORE - Gerard Mungo, Jr. starts to cry when he tells the story of his arrest by the Baltimore City police. Since he was handcuffed, photographed for a mug shot and fingerprinted Tuesday afternoon — all for allegedly sitting on a dirt bike on a sidewalk — Gerard said he is afraid to talk about it.

“They scared me,” he said, before breaking down in tears.

Gerard, who just turned 7 in February, was pulled off the dirt bike he sat on — with the motor off — by police while waiting for his father to pick him up in East Baltimore, according to his mother, Likisa Dinkins. Dinkins said she was incensed after the police pulled Gerard up by his collar and dragged him off the bike.

Seven-year old Gerard Mungo Jr. sits back on his living room couch after telling the story of his arrest by the Baltimore City Police Department.

“I told them to let go of my baby,” she said. “Since when do you pull a 7-year-old child by his neck and drag him?

“It broke my heart the way they were treating him.”

Dinkins said she called for a police supervisor to intervene, but after he arrived, Dinkins said, he started scolding her son.

“The started yelling at him, ‘Do you know what you did wrong, son?’” she said. “He was so scared he ran upstairs.”

After police confiscated the dirt bike, Dinkins said, the police said her son was under arrest.

“They put his hands behind his back and put him in black metal handcuffs. They handcuffed a 7-year-old child,” she said. “I cannot believe they did this to a child.”

Gerard was brought to the Eastern District station house, where he was cuffed to a bench, then interrogated, he told The Examiner.

“They asked about my mother,” he said.

Charging documents state that Gerard was charged with riding a dirt bike on city streets. He was released into the custody of his parents after being fingerprinted and photographed.

Mayor Sheila Dixon said she was concerned about the arrest.

“I am very concerned about what I am hearing. As a mother and as a parent, I am bothered by it,” she said. “I will get to the bottom of this.”

Police officials said they did not have enough information on the arrest to comment before press time.

Dinkins’ only concern is for her son’s well-being.

“This has changed his life,” she said. “He’ll never be the same.”

[Piggybank Cop]

Why is it that cops only arrest innocent people; don’t they know there are bad people out there?

[Vendetta]

From someone who works in the high school/ middle school enviroment everyday and for some reason the kids tell me everything.
I graduated high school in 1995 and now what ever we were doing when we were in school kids are doing at half that age. If we were having sex at 14 there doing it now at 7. If we were playing with pot at 16 they are doing it now at 8. Blows my mind

[Rhino]

Why is it that cops only arrest innocent people; don’t they know there are bad people out there?

Yeah- but those people are scary-lookin'. The innocent put up much less of a fight.

[Jackalope]

Why is it that cops only arrest innocent people; don’t they know there are bad people out there?

Not every cop can police a piggy bank. You ever catch any kids riding dirt bikes inside the vaults?

[TXCharlie]

Is riding a dirt bike on city streets an arrestable offense even for an adult? They never say he stole it.

I would think if anyone were arrested, it should be the parents who allowed him to ride it.

Gerard was brought to the Eastern District station house, where he was cuffed to a bench, then interrogated, he told The Examiner.

We just had a couple of days of juvenile issues class... You can't arrest a juvenile in Texas - You can only "Detain" them for a swift court hearing, and I don't think you can do a lot of interrogation before the judge gets them to sign the Miranda statement either.

You also have to babysit them every second away from the "Sight and Sound" of adult prisoners, and you can't even cuff them to anything.

I think there's even a rule about whether you lock the door of the room or not (depends on whether they committed a Status Offense or a Felony, as I remember), but someone still has to baybysit them in the room every second.

Sounds like a pain in the ass to mess with 'em - I'd be calling their parents to tell them to come pick their little brat up, unless they did something really bad.

[Bob Loblaw]

I wasn't there, of course, but it does seem a little wheels off to hook a 7-year old for riding a dirtbike on city streets. I could see if he rode it as the getaway from a serious deal......

[BEB]

Likewise I wasn't there.

I would like to know why the dirt bike was out if it wasn't being ridden on city streets though. Is there an area he can ride? Or did mommy and daddy buy him a dirt bike to use the same way they use their SUV - to drive on pavement?

I love offroad toys. I have a short fuse about them being ridden on streets or in town at all though. Its not only dangerous, but gives all riders a bad reputation. And, of course, most of the time mommy and daddy don't require a helmet while Jr goes blasting up and down the lane.

From what's presented in the story I sure don't see any justification for arresting a 7 year old, or anyone for the alleged actions. I'd like to know the whole story, but I doubt I'll end up liking the parents at the end of it.

[121Traffic]

Who knows? It does sound a little odd, but I wasn't there. Maybe he was mouthy. Maybe he told them to fuck off (I've heard a 8 year old kid say it to me.) Maybe the only reason they put him in cuffs was BECAUSE he was being mouthy and aggressive and mom was condoning it. But like I said, none of us were there.

[Piggybank Cop]

Not every cop can police a piggy bank. You ever catch any kids riding dirt bikes inside the vaults?

Skateboarders in the parking lots and streets; wow was that exciting!

[213th]

But like I said, none of us were there.

And good luck finding a news outlet that will accurately potray EVERYTHING that happened