Public urination is by no means a good suggestion, however arresting an harmless youngster for doing one thing like that’s perhaps taking the legislation just a little too critically. Sadly, that’s what occurred to a ten 12 months outdated in Mississippi, Fox Memphis stories.

On August tenth, Latonya Eason stopped by an lawyer’s workplace in Senatobia, MS for some authorized recommendation. Her two kids, a daughter and her 10 12 months outdated son Quantavious, waited within the automobile whereas she was within the workplace. In some unspecified time in the future, Quantavious wanted to make use of the restroom, so he acquired out of the automobile and went to pee behind it. On the identical time, a Senatobia Police officer simply occurred to be passing by and caught the child peeing behind the automobile.

Nevertheless it was no biggie; Latonya mentioned the officer was simply going to provide them a warning: “I used to be like son, why did you try this? He mentioned, ‘Mother, my sister mentioned they don’t have a rest room there.’ I used to be such as you knew higher, it’s best to have come and requested me if they’d a restroom. [The officer] was such as you dealt with it like a mother. He can get again within the automobile,” she mentioned to Fox Memphis. It wasn’t a giant deal — till different officers turned concerned.

Eason mentioned a number of different officers confirmed up, together with a lieutenant who mentioned that Quantavious needed to be arrested and brought to jail for peeing. Eason admits her son shouldn’t have peed, however she says arresting him over it was doing an excessive amount of.

“No, him urinating within the car parking zone was not proper, however on the identical time I dealt with it like a guardian, and for one officer to inform my child to get again within the automobile, it was okay, and to have the opposite pull up and take him to jail? Like no. I’m simply speechless proper now. Why would you arrest a ten 12 months outdated child?” she mentioned.

Quantavious mentioned he was scared and began shaking when the officers took him to jail. As soon as there, they held him in a cell, charged him with “youngster in want of providers” after which launched him to his mom.

As for the Senatobia Police Division, Fox Memphis reached out to them in regards to the quotation, and its police chief launched a assertion that admitted that arresting the kid whereas his mother was current was a mistake, however provided no apology. As a substitute it simply reiterated that Quantavious broke the legislation:

We want to handle a latest incident involving the arrest of a 10-year-old youngster. In conditions like these, the Youth Courtroom Act guides how officers could cope with juveniles throughout enforcement encounters. The Youth Courtroom Act permits officers to file a referral in opposition to a toddler as younger as 7 years outdated if they’re in want of supervision (which can even be based mostly on delinquent acts), or 10 years outdated in the event that they commit acts that might be unlawful for an grownup underneath an identical circumstances (i.e., a “delinquent” act). The necessity to transport kids from a scene depends upon quite a lot of elements and the provision of affordable alternate options. On this scenario, an officer personally witnessed a 10-year-old youngster committing an act in public that might have been unlawful for an grownup underneath these circumstances.

The officer didn’t observe a guardian on the scene through the preliminary contact. The mom was situated at a close-by enterprise shortly thereafter and she or he was suggested that her youngster was going to obtain a Youth Courtroom Referral for this matter. The officers then transported the 10-year-old to the police station to finish the paperwork the place the kid was launched to the mom. The kid was not handcuffed throughout this incident. Underneath these circumstances, it was an error in judgement for us to move the kid to the police station for the reason that mom was current at the moment as an inexpensive different. Errors like this are a reminder on this career as to the continuous want for coaching and refreshers on the assorted subjects that we encounter every day.