Police allegedly lock up a black 8th grader for six days – for throwing Skittles

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An eighth grade boy was allegedly arrested and detained for six days for throwing Skittles on a school bus.

According to a letter from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to the Department of Justice (DOJ), during his arrest, the officer involved stated that he would have “beat the f–k out of [the student]” if they were the same age, .

The letter also claims that this incident was just one of many outrageous arrests of black students in a Louisiana school district.

It is further explained that, between 2013-2014, black students were subjected to 448 — 80 percent — of arrests and law enforcement referrals in Jefferson Parish Public Schools System (JPPSS), but they only accounted for 41.5 percent of students in the district.

Most of the disciplinary actions involved non-violent, low-level offenses. For instance, a seventh grade student was arrested, detained, and suspended for cursing and yelling. In a separate incident, police were called when a 9-year-old girl with numerous mental disorders, including anxiety and ADHD, had a tantrum. Similarly, police were called to engage an autistic fourth grade student in the middle of an episode. When officers arrived and found her in a tree, they grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her down before handcuffing and kneeling on top of her. At the time, the unnamed student had trouble breathing because grass and dirt were in her face, and she was screaming in pain.

Earlier this month, the SPLC called on the DOJ to step in because they contend the problem has only worsened since 2012.

“The Jefferson Parish Public School System has continued its destructive practice of arresting and jailing children for minor, and often trivial, violations of school rules and decorum,” managing attorney for the SPLC’s Louisiana branch, Eden Heilman, said in a press release. “If law enforcement officers are on school grounds at all, they should be there in a very limited capacity – to protect children in the unlikely event of some kind of violent attack.”

The local public school system is currently signed on to a $600,000 contract with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, to pay for the full time salaries of ten Police Officers on Campus (POCs) — who are stationed at nine of the district’s schools.

Some think that this level of police presence is excessive and sends a problematic message.

Now, the Department of Justice has issued guidance to reduce the overcriminalization of school children. “During critical years that are proven to impact a student’s later chances for success, alarming numbers of young people are suspended, expelled, or even arrested for relatively minor transgressions like school uniform violations, schoolyard fights, or showing ‘disrespect’ by laughing in class,” said former Attorney General Eric Holder.