https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/nyregion/nypd-jazmine-headley-baby-video.html

A Facebook user who uploaded the video said police had been called Friday after the woman, identified by police as Jazmine Headley, 23, sat on the floor of a food stamp office in Boerum Hill because there were no available chairs.

After a verbal dispute with a security guard, someone called the police, according to the Facebook post by Nyashia Ferguson, who posted the video.

The video starts with Headley lying on the floor, cradling her son and yelling, “They’re hurting my son! They’re hurting my son!”

A female sergeant and three police officers, two of whom appear to be women, surround Headley and attempt to pull the child away. Then one officer, her back facing the camera, repeatedly yanks the child in an apparent attempt to separate him from his mother.

After more officers joined the fray, the officer who had yanked the child is seen waving a yellow stun gun at the outraged crowd of onlookers, which included several children and other people using their cellphones to film the encounter.

The incident is one of several encounters in New York that has sparked outrage over excessive policing against unarmed civilians, despite the Police Department’s implementation of de-escalation training. The training followed the death of an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, from a police chokehold in 2014 on Staten Island. Nearly all the civilians involved in those incidents have been black or Latino.

The Patrol Guide, the official police manual, states that stun guns should only be used in limited circumstances: against people who are physically resisting being taken into custody; or those who indicate verbally that they intend to do so; or people who are acting in a manner that could cause injury to themselves or someone else.

The Police Department called Friday’s incident “troubling” in a statement Sunday, and said officers had responded to a 911 call for harassment. When the officers arrived, security guards told them that Headley had refused to leave.

The police officers told Headley to leave “numerous times,” police said, and after she refused, the security guards “brought the woman to the floor.” Police officers then tried to arrest her; despite her resistance, she was taken into custody, police said.

Headley was charged with resisting arrest, acting in a manner injurious to a child, obstructing governmental administration and trespassing. Police said she refused medical treatment for herself and her son, who was placed in the care of a relative.

Deputy Commissioner Phillip Walzak, a police spokesman, said the officers are all assigned to the 84th Precinct and remained on full-duty status. He declined to give their names or say whether they followed department protocols, citing its investigation.

The department is investigating the incident with the city Human Resources Administration, which administers public benefits. A spokeswoman for Allied Universal, the parent company of the security firm visible on security guards’ patches, FJC Security, did not respond to requests for comment.

Headley, of Stuyvesant Heights, and her lawyer could not be reached for comment Sunday.

On social media, some people fumed over the police officers’ actions, and many wondered what happened to the mother and child.

“This is unacceptable, appalling and heart breaking,” Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker, wrote on Twitter. “I’d like to understand what transpired and how these officers or the NYPD justifies this. It’s hard to watch this video.”

“This is the most disgusting thing I have seen in a long time,” another person wrote on Twitter. “What is wrong with these people? Why do the authorities think this is a good policy? One reasonable person could have sorted it all out without violence. She wasn’t doing anything anyway.”

Alex S. Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College who coordinates its Policing and Social Justice Project, said that rather than defusing tensions, the officers appear to be needlessly using force against someone who refused to comply with their requests. He said the officers deserved to be suspended.

“It’s just hard to imagine what possibly could have transpired before the video starts that would have warranted that level of force in those circumstances,” he said.

Vitale added that he was baffled that no one in the food stamp office, which has security guards and social workers, could figure out how to handle the situation without calling the police.

A police officer who waved a stun gun at teenagers near Midwood High School in Brooklyn is facing disciplinary charges after Vitale recorded the incident in March 2017. “You want to ride the lightning?” the officer asked one of the teenagers, after pushing her with his baton.

In an era when New York City’s police commissioner has pushed for stronger ties between neighborhoods and the police who patrol them, Vitale said incidents like these only harden mistrust of the police among poor people of color.

“This just reinforces their sense that police are a source of violence and injustice,” he said.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/nyregion/nypd-jazmine-headley-baby-video.html" id="8aa6de69-845c-35ad-af92-c8981d5de59f">The New York Times</a>.

NEW YORK — A video that shows police officers trying to remove a woman’s 1-year-old son from her grasp as they arrested her in a Brooklyn food stamp office ignited a fury on social media and prompted calls Sunday for an explanation from police.

'Appalling' Video Shows  Police Yanking 1-Year-Old From His Mother's Arms

A Facebook user who uploaded the video said police had been called Friday after the woman, identified by police as Jazmine Headley, 23, sat on the floor of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program office in Boerum Hill because there were no available chairs.

After a verbal dispute with a security guard, someone called the police, according to Nyashia Ferguson, who posted the video.

It begins with Headley lying on the floor, cradling her son and yelling, “They’re hurting my son! They’re hurting my son!”

After more officers join the fray, the officer who had yanked the child waves a yellow stun gun at the outraged crowd of onlookers, which includes several children and people filming with their cellphones.

The encounter was the latest in New York to spark outrage over excessive policing against unarmed civilians, despite the Police Department’s implementation of de-escalation training.

Nearly all the civilians involved in those incidents have been black or Latino. The training followed the death of an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, from a police chokehold in 2014 on Staten Island.

The Patrol Guide, the official police manual, states that stun guns should be used in limited circumstances: against people who are physically resisting being taken into custody; people who indicate verbally that they intend to do so; and people who are acting in a manner that could cause injury to themselves or someone else.

She could not be reached for comment Sunday because she was being held without bail on Rikers Island, according to online corrections records and Brooklyn Defender Services, the public defender organization representing her.

Deputy Commissioner Phillip Walzak, a police spokesman, said the officers involved are all assigned to the 84th Precinct and remained on full-duty status. He declined to give their names or say whether they followed department protocols, citing its investigation.

“They’re always rude,” Ferguson said about the guards in an interview. “They think that people that are poor don’t have nothing, so you can treat them any kind of way.”

She disputed the police account of the incident and said the officer who waved the stun gun, not a security guard, had forced Headley to the ground.

The police “didn’t help at all,” she said. “They made it way worse.”

For the city’s poor, applying for public assistance requires copious amounts of patience, and Friday had been no different for Headley, Ferguson said.

Headley had been waiting for about two hours, sitting on the floor the entire time, in the part of the office that helps families get child care, Ferguson said. The office was more crowded than usual, she said, and the wait times were agonizing.

A female security guard eventually approached Headley, and several more guards followed as a verbal dispute escalated. Ferguson said they taunted Headley and laughed in her face before leaving.

Ten minutes later, they returned with the police, Ferguson said. A fearful expression crossed Headley’s face as they approached, she said.

The police officers asked Headley to come with them, Ferguson said. When she tried to explain, they cut her off. The situation quickly devolved into chaos.

“The baby was screaming for his life,” said Ferguson, who was there with her 7-month-old daughter. “The lady was begging for them to get off of her. I was scared.”

On social media, some people fumed over the police officers’ actions, and wondered what Headley could possibly have done to warrant their response.

A police officer who waved a stun gun at teenagers near Midwood High School in Brooklyn in March 2017 is facing disciplinary charges after Vitale recorded the incident. “You want to ride the lightning?” the officer asked one of the teenagers, after pushing her with his baton.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/nyregion/nypd-jazmine-headley-baby-video.html

Articles written by the author

'Appalling' Video Shows Police Yanking 1-Year-Old From His Mother's Arms

'Appalling' Video Shows Police Yanking 1-Year-Old From His Mother's Arms