Two body cameras from the incident released by police on Sunday show officers restraining the child, handcuffing her and trying to get her into the back of a police car, repeatedly crying and calling for her father.
Officers then see pepper spray the girl after she doesn’t follow orders to put her feet in the car.
The girl was transported to Rochester General Hospital, where she was later released, Anderson said.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said at a news conference Sunday that she had spoken to the girl’s mother and that the city’s Person in Crisis mental health team would be contacting the family.
“The video clearly shows that we need to do more to support our children and families,” said Warren
During the press conference, Rochester Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan said that what happened was not acceptable.
“I’m not going to stand here and tell you it’s okay for a 9-year-old to be sprayed with pepper spray. It’s not,” said Herriott-Sullivan. “I don’t see that as who we are as a department, and we’re going to do the work we need to do to make sure things like this don’t happen.”
Police say they responded to a report of ‘family problems’
Agents were called to a home on the afternoon of Jan. 29 to report “family problems,” Anderson said Sunday.
The officers were told that the girl was “suicidal” and that she “indicated that she wanted to commit suicide and that she wanted to kill her mother,” the deputy chief explained.
The girl tried to flee from agents, Anderson said, and a video released by police shows a cop chasing her and trying to offer help.
Afterwards, he said, her mother arrived and the camera video of the body shows the two arguing.
Anderson said agents then decided to get the child out of the situation and take her to a local hospital.
But the girl refused to get into a police car, “hit around,” and kicked an officer, punching his body camera, Anderson said.
“It didn’t seem like she was opposing the agents, she was trying not to be constrained from going to the hospital,” Anderson said. “While the officers made numerous attempts to get her into the car, an officer sprayed the young child with OC spray to get her into the car.”
The body’s camera video shows the girl screaming repeatedly for her father, while being physically stopped by officers. She is seen screaming before her head is pressed against the snow-covered ground and handcuffed. A battle ensues between the girl and the cops as they try to get her into the back of a police car.
At one point an officer says, “You act like a child,” to which the girl can hear the response, “I am a child!”
Later in the video, you will see a female officer talking to the girl and finally saying, “This is your last chance or pepper spray will go into your eyeballs.” About a minute later, another officer can be heard saying, “Just spray her at this point.” The female officer shakes a can that looks like pepper spray and the child continues to scream.
The agents involved in the incident were not identified by the police, nor the child or her mother.
Anderson said on Sunday that he “made no excuses for what happened” and that the department is “engaged in a culture change.” According to Anderson, the department is reviewing many policies and wants to make changes.
Mayor Warren said she has instructed the police chief to conduct a full and thorough investigation into the incident and said she welcomes the evaluation of what happened by the city’s police accountability council.
The mayor explained that the video reminded her of her own young daughter.
‘I have a ten-year-old daughter. So she is a child; she’s a baby. And I can tell you, as a mother, this video is not something you want to see. It isn’t, ”Warren said. We need to understand compassion and empathy. If you have a child suffering like this and calling her father, I saw my baby’s face in her face. ‘