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The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon says the arrest and handcuffing of a 12-year-old girl at Beaumont Middle School raises questions about whether police officers in schools are "properly prepared" to deal with children.
The girl was arrested March 30 on charges of assault for a fight that happened at the school 12 days earlier, WW reported last week.
In a statement posted to its Facebook page last night, ACLU lawyers also criticized Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson for his description of the arrest, which included telling WW about the girl spitting inside a squad car, and characterizing the girl's behavior as a "tantrum" in comments to The Oregonian.
The ACLU's post says Simpson "engaged in biased shaming of the young girl and her mother through the details he shared and the language he used."
"When a police spokesperson shows such thoughtless contempt, it suggests to us that the bureau is more concerned with winning over the comments section than with holding themselves to an appropriate standard when dealing with children," the ACLU of Oregon comment on its Facebook page reads.
Simpson and other PPB officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Here is the full statement posted to the ACLU of Oregon's Facebook page:
Willamette Week