(Officer Vonley Williams Screengrab)
A police officer in Margate, Fla. who slung a fourth-grader he described as “physically out of control” over his shoulder will be suspended without pay.
The Sun Sentinel reports, the boy had exchanged words with another student in the cafeteria and refused to see the school counselor.
The boy refused to budge, even after a police officer assigned to the school talked to him. So the officer slung the boy over his shoulder and carted him off. Two days later, he dragged the same boy down the hall by his shirt and then by his arm.
For his actions, officer Vonley Williams will be suspended without pay for a month and undergo 40 hours of mandatory training.
A recent police investigation determined that Williams should not have gotten involved in the disciplinary issue and should not have put the child over his shoulder.
Williams felt he was trying to help a child, said Fraternal Order of Police spokesman John Puleo. “He picked him up like a father would pick up a child. That’s what his intention was,” Puleo said. “There was no intention of use of force.”
Williams told investigators that he tried to de-escalate the situation because the child was “physically out of control,” and that he carried the child only after the boy refused to walk.
Police investigators say Williams’ actions violated department policy and shake the very trust that school officer programs are meant to foster.
For more details click here for The Sun Sentinel story.