Sign of the Times: Police Abuse Caught on Tape

Over the last two months, technology and a growing movement of concerned citizens have exposed shocking incidents that speak to why we work so hard to assure that detention be used as a last resort for youth.

Our work specifically involves reducing the use of detention for youth of color because they are often confined for very minor offenses or administrative infractions. Above all, we believe that detention itself is harmful to youth – a point illustrated in a shocking video released in February.

In the video obtained by a Seattle television station through an official request four months prior, a male King County sheriff's deputy is captured physically assaulting a 15-year-old girl in a Seattle holding cell.

While it is our hope that the disturbing violence perpetrated in this video is rare, we know that it happens much more often than it should. We have posted this video on our website and are writing about it to highlight that this type of treatment should never happen to a young person in the states’ care and custody.

Since the first day of the New Year, we have seen high-profile incidents of police beatings and killings of youth of color made public through the use of video. In the case of Oscar Grant III, the 22-year-old Black father was filmed being shot by a White transit police officer in front of hundreds of Bay Area riders, some who were empowered to “cop watch” with camera phones.

In the Seattle video, the facility camera meant to monitor detainee behavior instead captured Seattle Deputy Paul Schene assaulting a 15-year-old girl, first by kicking her and slamming her head into the wall, throwing her down by her hair face down onto the floor, slugging her twice while she’s restrained and finally yanking her up by her hair and handcuffs. Appalling. All this because she kicked her shoes outside the door of her cell.

My reaction to her behavior? I’m not surprised; she is 15-years-old and her lack of maturity or understanding of the consequences of immature behavior is to be expected. My reaction to the deputy’s behavior? Completely unacceptable. Who is the adult here? What will be the consequences for his actions?

How can someone who is supposed to be a professional that is trained to protect and serve our youth be permitted to exhibit behavior that would have sent a parent to jail? What is clear is the offense the girl was allegedly arrested for, auto theft, and her behavior on the tape once again cannot possibly justify any use of excessive force.

Police officers have always played varying roles in the lives of children, from preventing crime and abuse and accessing social services to treating children and youths as potential criminals. With youth of color, the interaction tends to include more incidents of intimidation, arrest, detention, court referral and sometimes – as seen in the case of the 15-year-old girl in Seattle – the use of force.

Brian Stewart, the director of Milestone Adolescent Counseling Services in Seattle, told me that this recent case highlights ongoing problems between youth of color and police in Kings County. Seattle residents were “not surprised by the incident,” he said. “For every 15-year-old who is assaulted by the police, there are five other youth who were assaulted that we don’t even hear about because they are afraid to report the incident.”

The officer, Paul Schene, is reportedly the third sheriff's deputy since 2006 to face charges on allegations of excessive force. All three are from same precinct, Burien. Schene has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, which itself is a curious characterization of the excessive force shown on the tape.

This is not an isolated case, nor will it be the last. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there is no police department in the United States that is free of misconduct. However, that misconduct is usually perpetrated in the most marginalized communities and takes place outside the gaze of the power elites. Another video released in February from Fresno shows a homeless man being beaten by local police, as he lay helpless and partially restrained on the ground.

As videos continue to reveal disturbing police incidents, it’s incumbent upon all of us, as citizens of civil society, to take notice. There’s no doubt that police officers have very difficult jobs. And we respect the instruments of justice when they are administered fairly and equitably. But anyone vested with the power of the state to discharge weapons lethally and deprive citizens of their liberty must be trained and monitored.

Incidents like the one in Seattle represent a fundamental breach of the grand bargain that is struck between the governors and the governed. That is what must be addressed. We as citizens must always demand accountability. And never let up until it we receive it.