Why have none of the news outlets noted that the case was reported on previously, close to when it occurred, before video of the conflict was released?
Why do none of the news outlets reporting on Ja'eisha Scott and her mother, Inga Akins, make reference to the police report that was included in the earlier coverage?
Ja'eisha was released from police custody after the officers called the pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office.
They were told prosecutors would not charge the girl with battery on a school employee or anything else.
``To think we would consider charging a child of that age with a crime is almost comical,'' said Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant state attorney. [The school principal,] Di Benedetto, 31, was disappointed charges were not filed because it was the third time the girl had behaved violently, the police report says. Di Benedetto declined to comment Thursday.
Why was Di Bendetto "DISAPPOINTED charges were not filed"?
Why is any school principal anywhere invested in having any five year old of any race or gender charged with battery?
If there was a pattern of violent behavior, why didn't the principal respond by having her evaluated and developing an appropriate program of interventions?
Did Ja'eisha need counseling?
Did Ja'eisha have special needs?
Should she have been placed in a different class?
In the more recent St. Petersburg Times coverage, reporter Thomas C. Tobin notes that Ja'eisha
had a history of problems at the school, though the full extent is not known because student records are not public.
District officials have discussed an incident several weeks before the handcuffing in which a city police officer was called to the school because of a behavior problem with the girl. The officer said something to her about the possibility of being handcuffed if her behavior continued.
Akins later objected to that conversation, part of an ongoing feud with the school over her daughter's treatment.
Was the incident "several weeks before the handcuffing" time number one or time number two that "the girl behaved violently?
If it was time number one, why was the school's first recourse to call the police?
Why didn't the school pursue other avenues that would be likely to help Ja'eisha (and her mother) a) address the causes of her behavior, where ever they might reside and b) develop strategies for self-control, if they are needed?
If the "incident" mentioned was time number two, and a pattern of behavior was becoming evident, why was this not an occasion to help Ja'eisha and her mother?
WHY ARE POLICE OFFICERS GOING AROUND PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA THREATENING LITTLE SIX YEAR OLD CHILDREN WITH HANDCUFFS?
UPDATE:
Original, post-videotape-release SP Times article now has a link to the earlier SP Times article that covered the Ja'eisha Scott story when it first came out in March.
What's Race Got To Do With It?
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Arresting Children Under 12 In Florida
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What’s Race Got To Do With It?
Focus On Pinellas County Schools
• “Black kids are mistreated every day in Pinellas County schools”
• Class Action Suit: “the district has failed to narrow a yawning achievement gap between black and white students, in violation of the equal protection clause in the state Constitution.”
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Things You May Not Have Read About The Ja’eisha Scott Case
• Accounts Of Police Involvement In Ja’eisha Scott Case Raise New Questions About Assist. Principal Dibenedetto’s Intent
• “I think they were good people . . . [Ja'eisha] didn’t act like that over here.”
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