Police defend arrest of 11-year-old over drawing

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

ARVADA, Colo. -- Arvada Police are defending the way they handled the arrest of an 11-year-old boy. The Arvada boy was arrested and hauled away in handcuffs from his home for drawing stick figures in school - something his therapist told him to do.

His parents say they understand what he did was inappropriate, but are outraged by the way Arvada Police handled the case. The parents did not want their real names used.

They say "Tim" is being treated for Attention Deficit Disorder and his therapist told him to draw pictures when he got upset, rather than disrupt the class. So that’s what he did.

Last October, he drew stick figures of himself with a gun, pointed at four other stick figures with the words "teacher must die."

The boy drew the pictures to let out anry emotions. Tim, his parents, and his therapist say it was not a threat and that Tim would never hurt anyone.

He felt calmer and was throwing the picture away when the teacher saw it and sent him to the principal's office.

The school was aware that the boy was in treatment, determined he was not a threat, notified his parents and sent him back to class. His mother, "Jane" was shocked when Arvada Police showed up at their home later that night.

She says she told her son to cooperate and tell the truth, but was horrified when they told her they were arresting him and then handcuffed him and hauled him away in a patrol car. His mother says she begged police to let her drive her son to the police department and to let her stay with him through the booking process but they refused.

They put him in a cell, took his mug shot and fingerprinted him. He says he thought he was going to jail and would never be able to go home again.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-arvad...stick-figure-drawing-20110221,0,7099823.story

In case anyone is tempted to say this boy got what he deserved, let me remind you of a song I'm sure many of us sang back in the day (I certainly remember singing it). Now, of course, kids would be arrested for daring to sing it.

"The Burning of the School" (not an official title) is a parody of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", known and sung by schoolchildren throughout the United States and in some locations in the United Kingdom.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school
We have tortured all the teachers - we have broken all the rules
We cheated [principal's name] in a dirty game of pool
And our troops go marching on!

Glory, glory, hallelujah
My teacher hit me with a ruler
I hid behind her door with a loaded .44
And the teacher don't teach no more!

And many other variations (I remember, 'met her in the attic with a 9mm automatic' when I was younger).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burning_of_the_School

Of course, I'm sure all the apologists for the Cops will swarm this thread to scream at me that 'I'm being unfair to Cops. They're our saviours. Cops Protect and Serve' and many other nationalistic soundbytes people use all the time they come to the defense of the enforcer class.

 

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