A police chief in Murfreesboro, Tenn., issued an apology over an April incident in which his officers arrested 10 elementary school students during an investigation of an alleged bullying case.
"I am so saddened, and I'm so sorry this incident happened, because I truly think it could have been avoided," Murfreesboro Police Chief Karl Durr told the Tennessean newspaper in an interview published Sunday.
The apology comes after angry parents demanded action during a community meeting after police arrested 10 students, aged 6 to 11, at Hobgood Elementary School and other locations April 15. The incident gained national attention and sparked criticism at a time when police-community relations and the role of law enforcement in schools throughout the country were under heavy scrutiny.
The arrests caught the attention of human rights group Southern Poverty Law Center, which announced it would launch an investigation.
"These arrests are appalling," said Rhonda Brownstein, Southern Poverty Law Center's legal director, at the time. "The Southern Poverty Law Center is deeply concerned and is investigating the incident.
"Based on what has been reported, this appears to be yet another example of the over-policing of schoolchildren," she continued. "It is simply not OK to arrest and handcuff such young children. This outrageous reaction from law enforcement has no place in our society."
Police acted after they and school officials became aware of a video of an off-campus fight between school children.
In his apology, Durr noted that the department will review a policy that says police offers should consider whether or not to handcuff under the the age of 12. It is also reviewing the incident to determine whether there were any policy violations, whether additional training is needed for the police and whether there was any misconduct.
"I want to believe what happened here was an anomaly, because of the good work that I see," Durr said. "Errors were made, and now we are going to correct them moving forward and fix them so they are not repeated.
However, he was quick to note that there was at least one child involved in the case who is also involved in a larger criminal investigation, so their actions deserve at least some merit.
"Remember there was a victim here too, so if my officers didn't do their job that day, and we ignored the victim, what would this conversation be today?" Durr said. "That we failed to do our job."
Following the arrests, some children were accused of participating in the fight while others were accused of standing by and watching it unfold instead of breaking it up, causing them to be charged with "criminal responsibility for conduct of another."
There are no reports of any plans to dismiss the charges.
