After child is handcuffed, Miami-Dade schools make change

MIAMI – School district officials in Florida have adopted a new policy after a 7-year-old boy was placed in handcuffs and removed from his school for behaviour problems.

The Miami Herald reported Saturday that Miami-Dade County school system administrators must now exhaust all other options in handling a child with behaviour issues before requesting police intervention. Schools police also must get approval of a higher-ranking officer before transporting a child for an involuntary psychiatric exam.

The policy still allows handcuff use if a child is aggressively resisting an officer but provides more options not requiring them.

Parents complained after the 7-year-old was handcuffed and taken for an exam last month following an altercation in which police said the boy hit the teacher repeatedly in the back, kicked her and grabbed her hair.