A toddler who was cursed at and encouraged to curse in a video posted online has been placed in protective custody, Omaha police announced Wednesday.
Police said that four children, including the toddler from the video that was posted by the police union, were removed from the home, the Associated Press reported.
Facing criticism for posting the video on its website, union officials said they wanted to stimulate discussion about problems in the community and show what officers encounter. But critics said the matter could have been handled in a better way without subjecting a child to ridicule.
According to the AP, the video shows an African-American boy wearing only a diaper as he's harangued with racial slurs and obscenities from at least three adults. The child responds to the off-camera adults with profanities of his own and raises his middle finger.
At one point in the video, the adults reference a gang in northeast Omaha, which is where more than half of the city's roughly 40 homicides a year typically happen, the AP reported. Prosecutors and authorities reviewed the video and determined that no criminal activities had taken place, the Omaha Police Department said.
The police, however, worked with Child Protective Services regarding concerns for the toddler's well-being and the investigation did find safety concerns in the home that led to the removal of the four children.
The video, found by the union on a known local gang member's Facebook page, has been viewed several thousand times and remains available at the union's website, the AP reported.
The union said it had an obligation to share the video so the public will learn about "the terrible cycle of violence and thuggery that some young innocent children find themselves helplessly trapped in."
"The whole point of this is to give an unfiltered view of what police officers deal with every day," said Sgt. John Wells, president of the Omaha Police Officers Association.
Discussions should be focused on ways to help the boy in the video and address problems in the community, Wells said.
"It's almost like the kid was abused twice: once by the people in the video and once by the police officers association," said Hamilton, whose group promotes mentoring and works to strengthen families.
Hamilton said officers should have reached out to churches and community groups to help if the police union had been concerned about this child.
"If their overall goal was to educate people about the problems, this was an inept way to do it," he said.
Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer issued a statement Tuesday to clarify that the department wasn't involved in posting the video and doesn't have control over what the union posts, the AP reported.
"I strongly disagree with any postings that may cause a divide in our community or an obstacle to police community relations," Schmaderer said.
