The Florida officer who was under fire for arresting and handcuffing two six-year-olds at an elementary school before hauling them off to a youth detention center, has now been fired.
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Officer Dennis Turner caused outrage when he locked up a first-grader Kaia Rolle at Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy for a temper tantrum last week, without consulting his superiors over how he should handle the child.
The girl’s grandmother Meralyn Kirkland said the child was acting out because of her lack of sleep from a medical condition. She said received a disturbing call telling her that Kaia was getting locked up, WKMG reports.
“I said, ‘What do you mean, she was arrested?’ They said there was an incident and she kicked somebody and she’s being charged and she’s on her way,” Kirkland recalled.
Turner additionally arrested another 6-year-old, previously reported as age 8, on a separate incident and took both children to the Juvenile Assessment Center to be processed. One of the kids was processed, but contrary to previous reports, Kaia was not fingerprinted and instead taken back to school after a supervisor learned about the insane arrests.
On Monday, Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón said in a press conference he was “sick to my stomach” after hearing about the incident.
Previously Rolon said Turner did not follow protocol.
“The Orlando Police Department has a policy that addresses the arrest of a minor, and our initial finding shows the policy was not followed,” Police Chief Orlando Rolon told the outlet.
The chief said he personally delivered a departmental message that no juvenile is to be arrested without a manager’s approval.
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“No 6-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them,” Kirkland previously said.
Kirkland said the officer even made light of Kaia’s medical condition.
“He says, ‘What medical condition?’ ‘She has a sleep disorder, sleep apnea,’ and he says, ‘Well, I have sleep apnea, and I don’t behave like that,”‘ Kirkland said.
Turner was initially suspended but has now been officially fired.
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