Video of California Police Arresting 16-Year-Old Black Girl, Chief Apologizes to Family
A California police chief apologized to a Black teen girl’s family after her arrest. The Rialto police officer was captured on video after putting his hands on the 16-year-old’s neck and forcefully spinning her to the ground while attempting to detain her for illegally riding her motorbike.
The teen was riding a motor vehicle called “a pocket bike” in a residential area, which isn’t legal to ride on the street in California. In California and Texas consider the operation of pocket bikes and/or mini-motorcycles illegal on all public streets, sidewalks, and trails According to Bikehike.org. However, the issue at hand for the child’s parents is not whether she was right or wrong, however, the officers used what they considered force on a minor. The girl’s family is now calling for the officer to be fired.
In a statement released on Feb. 15, Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling says he “personally viewed” the bodycam footage and is reviewing the officer’s actions. “Although the video depicts the juvenile resisting officers, we are investigating the officer’s decision to trip the juvenile to the ground and later placing his hand on the juvenile’s throat during the arrest” he said.
“We apologize to the juvenile’s family regarding these unfortunate circumstances,” he added. “At a time when our police department strives to build community relationships, we certainly fell short in this encounter. We look forward to building rapport with this family now and in the future.”
On Feb. 11, the Rialto Police Department reported the teen was stopped around 4:10 PM for riding “an illegal street pocket bike and traveling at an unsafe speed” near the intersection of Linden and Pinedale avenues. Once she was stopped the officer asked her to identify herself according to KTLA. She allegedly refused to identify herself and resisted being brought into custody.
Video footage of the incident shows one of the officers placing his hands on her throat as he forced her down. The officer grabbed her by the neck asking, “Did you try to bite me?”
The girl was arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center. She was kept there in the detention center for almost four days. A representatives for the family says as a result of the incident, the teen has sustained “shoulder, neck and back injuries.”
Since the video has gone viral, has some questioning why the officer used the excessive force during the arrest. The has now called for “an independent investigation by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations to determine if the officer’s use of force options were lawful.”
“I have also ordered an internal affairs investigation into the officer’s actions. Our investigation will determine if department policies, rules, or procedures were violated,” his statement continued. “Per department directives, confirmed violations of policy will lead to disciplinary action.”
The family has hired an attorney, Caree Harper, to help their daughter.
The 16-year-old was arrested on Feb. 11, into juvenile detention on suspicion of resisting an officer by use of force. She was released on Feb. 15.
Harper told The Los Angeles Times, “They initially told her that they would release her to her father, and then based on some verbal exchange with the officers, he started to forcefully put her into custody.”
“She thought she was going to die,” Harper said. “You have two grown men throwing around a 90-pound girl. It’s their job to de-escalate those situations. These two officers are the adults in the room. It wasn’t a pretty moment, to begin with, and then it turned into a nightmare.”
The officer hasn’t been fired, the police chief says the officer is currently placed on leave.
“The officer, whose identity is being withheld due to the ongoing investigations, has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is appropriate under these circumstances,” Chief Kling said.
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