After 6-Year-Old Arrested For Misbehaving In Class, Officer Faces Investigation

Kaia Rolle, a 6-year-old first-grader in an Orlando charter school, was almost taken to a juvenile facility after being arrested for allegedly misbehaving in school. The arrest was done by Dennis Turner, a member the police’s volunteer Reserve Officer Program who was appointed as a resource officer at the school.

It was a shocking experience for Meralyn Kirkland, Rolle’s grandmother, to receive a call about the arrest of her granddaughter Thursday. The Washington Post reported that Kirkland remembered the caller as saying her granddaughter had kicked someone and that she is charged with battery.

According to WKMG-TV, Rolle was a student of Emma Nixon Academy where she allegedly kicked a staff member as he grabbed her wrists intending to calm her down.

Kirkland told the officer that her granddaughter suffers from sleep apnea which could have been a reason behind her behavior. The police officer allegedly responded, “Well I have sleep apnea and I don’t behave like that,” local news channel WKMG reported.

Kirkland told WKMG that they took the child’s mugshot and she was fingerprinted thereafter. Later, Lt. Wanda Miglio, who conducts media relations for the Orlando police, refuted both the claims in a mail to TIME.

Turner also arrested an 8-year-old student at the same school in a separate instance. an 8-year-old while working as a school resource officer at a charter school. While the six year old was returned to school before being taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center, the 8 year old was taken to the centre and processed there and later released to parents.

Turner is facing an internal investigation because he didn’t adhere to the department policy which mandates officers to acquire a permission from a watch commander before arresting minors younger than 12, USA Today reported Chief Orlando Rolon as saying.

Rolon said, "The Orlando Police Department has a policy that addresses the arrest of a minor and our initial finding shows the policy was not followed,” further adding, "As a grandparent of three children less than 11 years old this is very concerning to me."

The Washington Post reported that when it approached Turner for comments late Sunday, he was unavailable.

Authorities chose to withhold the identities of both the children arrested. Their arrests have however focused attention on biased policies in schools that violate the rights of children.