The Pepper Spraying of a 9-Year-Old Girl by Rochester Police Intensifies Calls for Police Reform
Chiara Espinal
Graphic body-camera footage showing three Rochester, NY police officers involved in the pepper spraying and arrest of a 9-year-old girl on Friday, January 22rd was released on Sunday, January 30th. The video’s release sparked serious controversy and led hundreds of Black Lives Matter supporters to rally in the streets of the city. All of the three officers seen in the video arrived on the scene in response to a family disturbance call. Rochester mayor, Lovely Warren, announced on Monday, January 25th that the officers involved in the incident would be suspended until the department completed a thorough internal investigation. Despite this, the footage of the incident has once again sounded the alarm for police reform in the United States, specifically when it comes to how officers are trained to handle civilians dealing with mental health-related episodes.
The details of the exact circumstances surrounding the young girl’s arrest have not been made public. Officers first arrived at the location on Friday, January 22nd in response to a phone call by the child’s mother, Andre Anderson, who reported that the young girl had made threats to harm herself and her mother. Anderson confirmed that her daughter resisted being placed in the squad car and defended herself by kicking at one of the officers. Shortly after, officers placed Anderson’s daughter in handcuffs as the child repeatedly screamed for her father in panic.
Body-camera footage of the incident shows the child refusing to place her legs in the back of the police car. After failed attempts to get the young girl into the car, one of the officers threatens to pepper spray her.
The audio captured one of the officers exclaiming, “You’re acting like a child,” to which the girl responds, “I am a child.” Video footage of the arrest had been edited prior to its release, so events leading up to and preceding the footage are unknown. However, one officer can be clearly heard threatening to pepper spray the child if she continues to resist, and an additional officer present at the scene is heard encouraging the officer who made the threat to do so. The child was later transported to Rochester General Hospital by police for evaluation.
After the footage’s initial release, protestors immediately took to the snow-covered streets of Rochester chanting “Black Lives Matter,” and dozens gathered before the Rochester police station on Monday night to express their outrage over the officer’s actions. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo made a statement in regards to the shocking incident, stating, “This isn't how the police should treat anyone, let alone a 9-year-old girl," (NBC).
Though the outrage the video caused resulted in the suspension of each of the officers involved in the pepper-spraying, Mayor Warren stated that state laws and union rules prohibited her from taking more serious action against the officers. This incident, among many others, has encouraged conversations about how public safety workers can serve both the Black community and those with mental illness more effectively. An article by NBCC reported that “according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by police in an encounter. Statistics like these make it clear that there is a desperate need for more mental health services in our communities.”
Redirecting funds for police training is one of the many solutions proposed by police reform advocates in recent years. Community outreach and response programs, along with the possible creation of task forces dedicated to de-escalating situations, are all viable solutions to the issue that has plagued American law enforcement for decades. Several states, including New York, have begun the long reevaluation process to assess how their departments have responded to mental illness cases in the past, along with the best ways to proceed in the future. Such solutions have the potential to create the appropriate services and responses for those experiencing mental health issues from law enforcement in the coming years.
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