Maybe It’s Time to Defund The Police

The police have done it again, in Rochester, NY a 9 year old girl was pepper sprayed by police. What the fuck is wrong with some people. If you as a police officer can’t handle a 9 year old girl and detain her without any harm coming to her then you suck as a police officer. A 9 year old weighs a maximum of like 100 pounds, if you can’t pick them up and place them into your car than you are too weak to be a police officer. The sad thing is this isn’t the first time police officers have done something like this before. It seems to happen far too often that children are arrested by the police too harshly. In this situation specifically there is absolutely no excuse for the officers actions.

Even beyond the fact that SHE'S 9 YEARS OLD, I fail to see how pepper-spraying someone who's suicidal will make them less suicidal. This is why, when I was suicidal, I didn't tell ANYONE. I feared armed thugs at my door far more than I did my depression. https://t.co/5qAZ50fw2o

— Teresa Rothaar (@trothaar) February 1, 2021

Police in Rochester, NY handcuffed a 9-year-old Black girl and pepper-sprayed her face as she screamed for her father. Police yelled she was "acting like a child."

She replied: "I am a child."

Police claim the girl was suicidal and that they used force "for the minor's safety." pic.twitter.com/VMR2FjuAKU

— AJ+ (@ajplus) February 1, 2021

I don’t know how anyone could ever justify pepper spraying a 9 year old girl. However, the Rochester Police Union disagrees as the President of the Union said this “There was a decision when they couldn’t get her into the car despite everything they were trying. There was a short blast of capsicum. It worked. It calmed her down. It got her in.” Police unions really are huge scumbags. They spend so much time and resources defending asshole police officers who don’t deserve their job, than they do protecting good police officers. Police unions need to be reformed, along with teacher unions (but that is for another blog).

Rochester police union chief defending the pepper spraying of a 9-year-old girl:

"Had they had to go and push further, and use more force, there's a good chance she could have been hurt worse."

Not sure that's making your case stronger.pic.twitter.com/8BhokISXpo

— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) February 1, 2021

It is clear this girl had some sort of mental issue. The police were responding in the first place because she was apparently suicidal. So there obviously is something wrong with this girl that the police are not fit to address. I don’t think police officers are trained properly to deal with mentally ill people, so their interactions with mentally ill people should be limited. I wonder how the presence of a social worker would have changed the outcome of this situation.

What happened in Rochester on Friday is deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable. Such use of force and pepper spray should never be deployed against a child, period.

My office is looking into what transpired, but it’s clear that drastic reform is needed at @RochesterNYPD. https://t.co/SReNMFH6xd

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) February 1, 2021

There is fundamental issue that exist in the government of Rochester starting at the top.

It breaks my heart to watch this as an educator, as someone who use to work in the Rochester community.

Be better.

— SportsRoc (@SportsRoc2) February 1, 2021

I would consider myself to be a pro law enforcement person. However, especially after the events of this summer it is important to realize that law enforcement and the way they do things needs to change. Law enforcement needs to adapt its tactics and policies in order to make their communities safer.