SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Body-camera video released on Thursday shows the moment that a 9-year-old student was handcuffed by Oviedo officers earlier this year.
According to an incident report, officers responded to the mailroom at Stenstrom Elementary School on Feb. 2 after the child began angrily throwing items around the room and at school staff.
Court records state that the child was a fourth-grade student with a Behavioral Intervention Plan, which identified “physical aggression” as one such behavioral problem.
Due to those plans, school faculty were told to “not engage in any conversation other than having him complete the task” when confronted with the aggression, according to those documents.
[VIEW THE EDITED BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE BY CLICKING IN THE MEDIA PLAYER BELOW]
While officers initially tried to de-escalate the situation, the student was seen kicking and punching staff while screaming profanities, at one point trying to break a window, the incident report states.
Video of the encounter shows that one of the officers handcuffed the student out of concern for the safety of others in the room. Despite the restraints, the student is seen continuing to scream profanities while scratching at one of the officers.
“If you can relax, we can take the cuffs off. But you’re literally endangering everybody here by hitting everybody,” one officer says. “And they don’t come to work to get beat up. They come to work to teach you.”
“(Expletive) you!” the student responds.
The incident report says that the handcuffs were not double-locked or placed tightly on the student’s wrists.
Oviedo police protocols dictate that children under 12 years of age may not be placed in handcuffs — unless they pose a danger to those around them.
After around 12 minutes, officers and school staff were able to de-escalate the situation, calming the student enough that the handcuffs could be taken off, the footage shows.
Last month, the student’s parents filed a lawsuit against the city of Oviedo over the incident, claiming that the officers used “unnecessary and unreasonable” force when dealing with the student.
Due to the incident, the parents are seeking compensation for the damages, attorney fees and other associated costs.
According to court records, the SRO agreement between the City of Oviedo and the school district required that handcuffs not be used on disabled students in grades 5 and below.
News 6 reached out to the school district for comment. School officials replied that the district cannot provide statements on pending litigation.
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