Black mom sprayed pepper for her toddler, police say

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The incident is the latest incident involving Rochester police officers, which has sparked widespread criticism and conviction.

Bodycam footage from the Feb. 22 incident shows an officer responding to a shoplifting complaint and confronting a woman holding the toddler.

The woman shows the officer the inside of her bag and insists she hasn’t stolen anything.

The video shows the officer asking the woman to wait with him, but she runs off with the child in her arms. The officer then chases her down the street, tackles her in a parking lot and stops her.

Three Rochester police officers are removed from patrol after 9-year-old girl is handcuffed and peppered

You can see the child wandering and crying in the midst of the battle, until another officer arrives on the scene and pulls the child away.

In a statement, Rochester police said agents responded to a report of a female shoplifter who “argued with store employees and refused to leave.”

The woman sprayed with pepper spray matched the suspect’s description in the complaint, police said.

“The child was not sprayed with pepper or injured during the arrest,” the statement continues. “The female was charged with trespass and received an admission ticket.”

The officer in question has been given administrative duties until an internal investigation is completed, police said.

Rochester police did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Multiple incidents

Rochester Police Chief Cynthia Herriot-Sullivan said at a press conference Friday that it appears that the agents are following the department’s policy on pepper spray, which is allowed if the individual is “physically resisting.”

But questions are raised about the necessity of using such force.

Protesters gather in the streets of Rochester after the announcement that no officers will be charged for the death of Daniel Prude
The department has been under attack since the death of Daniel Prude last year, a black man who had a mental health crisis.

Police officers from Rochester handcuffed him and covered his head with a “ spit sock ” after he spit on officers, according to bodycam footage.

At another meeting on Jan. 29, body camera footage of Rochester officers handcuffed and pepper sprayed a 9-year-old while responding to what police said was a report of “ family troubles. ”
Another incident occurred in May 2020 when a 10-year-old girl was handcuffed during a traffic stop.

‘Another strategy’

The Police Accountability Board, which held a press conference on Friday to address the incident, said the department “needs to fundamentally change its organizational culture.”

The board said there are “disturbing parallels” between the February 22 incident and the 9-year-old’s pepper spray in January.

“Both incidents involved black mothers. Both involved black children. Both involved black people who are clearly in crisis. Both involved agents using pepper spray on or around a black child,” the statement read. board.

According to experts, black girls are often treated like adults during meetings with the police. Rochester is just one example.

The Rochester Police Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rochester Police Deputy Chief Andre Anderson said at Friday’s press conference that the department is working on “policy changes,” including training on de-escalation and race relations.

“We need to understand how to respond to young people and where they come from,” he said.

“When incidents like this do occur, I am relieved to have made sure that our police carry body-worn cameras so that we can see what is happening in our streets and hold officers to account,” the police said. Mayor of Rochester Lovely Warren in a statement.

“Change will not come until we have the opportunity to hold our officers fully accountable when they violate public confidence,” she said.

CNN’s Saffeya Ahmed, Laura James, Kay Jones, Alec Snyder and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.

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