How on God's green earth did trained and educated law enforcement officers from the New York City Police Department handcuff an angelic looking 7-year old boy after the child allegedly started a scuffle with a 9-year old boy over lunch money? I am absolutely appalled by such action by the NYPD.As a result, the family of Wilson Reyes has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and the NYPD for 250 million dollars. If it was me...and my 7-year old son was handcuffed because of a boyhood tussle...I'd sue for 250 BILLION dollars.
The lawsuit also claims that young Wilson was interrogated by police for 10 hours after the boy - a student at Public School 114 in the Bronx - reportedly got in to a fight in December 2012 with another kid after Wilson was accused of taking 5 dollars that had fallen on the ground in front of him.
The lawsuit blames the NYPD - among other accusations - of false imprisonment, physical, verbal, emotional and psychological abuse plus deprivation of Wilson's constitutional rights. Police had responded to P.S. 114 following a complaint by the school's safety officer. The youngster was reportedly charged as an adult and was booked for robbery. All charges were later dropped.
This is mind-boggling and unheard of to think that any cop would handcuff a 7-year old boy for allegedly doing something - fighting with another kid - that so many other children have done for centuries. Since when does a playground altercation mean that a child can be held in handcuffs and questioned by police for 10 hours? Granted, he was accused of stealing another boy's five dollars in lunch money...but 7-year old kids do not belong in handcuffs. This is insane. If this happened to my child or my niece, nephew or grandchild - I would in no way stand for it. Would you? To traumatize this particular boy - Wilson Reyes - is more criminal than the alleged punch in the nose that Wilson was being accused of doing.
Those of you who have read The Controversy before know that I am generally a great supporter of local police departments throughout the United States. As a journalist, I have proudly worked with police chiefs and police officers in states and cities all across America and I usually respect what they do to "protect and serve" the citizens of their communities. But what were the cops from the 44th Precinct in the Bronx thinking when they slapped handcuffs on a 3rd grader? And what about the school principal? How did an educator allow police to perform such a despicable act on a small boy? Have the police in New York City and the principal, teachers and safety officer at P.S. 114 in the Bronx never heard of "time-out" for a child? Do the New York City Police not have anything better to do than arrest and interrogate a 7-year old boy over 5 dollars and a fat lip? You have got to be kidding me! What has this world come to? This person is not an ax murderer. He's a 7-year old boy and certainly NOT a hardened criminal.
Meanwhile, the NYPD is disputing the amount of time that Wilson was in custody. Reportedly, the police department is claiming that the boy was held for only 4 hours and 40 minutes. Do they really think that makes a difference? That's 4 hours and 40 minutes too long. A 7-year old boy doesn't belong being questioned by police while wearing handcuffs - and definitely not without at least one parent present.
The New York Daily News quoted a source from the NYPD who stated that, "He (Wilson Reyes) attacked someone and took his money. He had to be handcuffed - he was a prisoner. If we didn't handcuff him and he ran out the front door, then we would have had an escaped prisoner on our hands."
I'm shaking my head in disbelief. The kid is 7 years old. I realize I have emphasized the boy's age over and over and over again in this commentary, but it's an obviously important element in this case. This is a child who is 4 feet 7 inches tall and only 75 pounds who was involved in a schoolyard skirmish. He's not some killer who robbed a convenience store and murdered the shopkeeper. HE'S 7 YEARS OLD!!!
I can only imagine how terrified this child was when the police cuffed his tiny little hands and began to interrogate him. The kid would have been frightened and panic stricken if he had been told to just go to the principal's office. But to be taken away by police in handcuffs? My goodness...an adult would be petrified. I can't even begin to think how this 7-year old boy was feeling - especially when the youngster said he didn't take the five dollars.
This whole matter is bizarre and the NYPD officers involved should be ashamed of themselves. The police have reportedly stated that they were merely following procedure.
Procedure? Procedure? How about a little common sense? The boy is 7 years old! And when his mother arrived at the police station, Mrs. Mendez was told she couldn't see her son. However, when the police finally let Mendez see her child, she found young Wilson shaking like a leaf and a nervous wreck as he sat in an uncomfortably hard, metal-framed chair with the boy's left wrist cuffed to a pipe on the wall. Mendez quickly snapped a photo as evidence to prove how the NYPD had treated her son. The entire matter is being reviewed by the NYPD's Internal Affairs Department.
Despite Wilson's protests that he was totally innocent of any theft, the police apparently wouldn't believe him. Legal papers have now indicated that it was another classmate who later admitted to taking the money.
Stealing is obviously wrong - and nobody - not even a 7-year old - should be allowed to get away from taking anything that doesn't belong to them. But this was a matter for the child's parents. P.S. 114 in the Bronx is responsible for this massive debacle too, as the school's safety officer should never have contacted the police. If the boy was suspected of taking the five dollars, he should have been gingerly and gently escorted to the principal's office and his mother called by telephone IMMEDIATELY...NOT HOURS LATER - BUT WITHIN MINUTES.
For those of you who say that the police ordeal will "teach the boy a lesson" - as some people have reportedly stated...THAT'S A BUNCH OF CRAP! All this did was scar a 7-year old child for the rest of his life. You don't lock up a small boy for something so insignificant. This is totally absurd.
As for my comment of suing for 250 BILLION dollars - not just 250 million...please know that I don't expect or even think that anyone deserves a settlement for that amount of money. But Wilson Reyes does deserve to be compensated for how the matter was handled and how he was treated.
I don't believe - but of course I could be wrong - that the lawyer, representing Wilson and his family, really thinks that any judge or jury would award the boy 250 million dollars. However...this child has suffered greatly... and he will continue to suffer emotionally and mentally for years to come - if not for the rest of his life. Therefore...a point has to be made.
To torment a 7-year old boy is beyond disgraceful and beyond contemptible. The bottom line is that none of this with the police should have ever happened. And the fact that it did...the cops and school officials involved...should have their heads examined.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
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Good for the police... Maybe the parents are also blame for not teaching his kid common sense. We need to start spanking kids again without having parents arrested. If the kids talk back at their parents and parents cant spank them...Have the police pick them up and torment them for awhile. I bet ya that kid will never be on the wrong side of the law EVER. Good lesson taught, tax dollars not.
ReplyDeleteIf you knew how bad this kid really was you wouldn't be writing this article. The boy hangs out with drug dealers, was raised in the street! His mother does not care for him, the street does. He's a young thug in the making and this is just the beginning. It's better that he gets handcuffed now and taught a lesson, rather than later when he will end up doing hard time or even worse end up dead
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you reading The Controversy, but this was a column I wrote nearly four years ago on February 3rd, 2013. I don't know what the kid is like now - at age 11 - but at age 7...I can't believe that he was a "thug." GBD
DeleteThe only people that will suffer greatly are his victims. I lived on the same block with this child for many years. He is being raised in the streets by drug dealers and drug users. He bullies kids on a day to day basis. He needs to be taught a lesson if not by his own mother and family, then by the community. He is a danger to others and bring handcuffed now and taught a lesson it's what this child needs. Later on when he commits a much larger crime, it'll be too late. Hard time or dead is unfortunately what I see in his future if he is not helped now.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you reading The Controversy, but this was a column I wrote nearly four years ago on February 3rd, 2013. I don't know what the kid is like now - at age 11 - but at age 7...I can't believe that he was "a danger to others." GBD
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ReplyDeleteZack Smith, your comment was removed because of the Website link you included. Please feel free to post your comments again, but without the Website link. Your remarks were appreciated and we hope you will please re-post them. Gary will then reply. Thank you.
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