A Vermont mom called police to talk to her son about stealing. He ended up handcuffed and sedated
Source: Associated Press
A Vermont mom called police to talk to her son about stealing. He ended up handcuffed and sedated
BY LISA RATHKE
Updated 3:42 PM EST, February 2, 2024
A Vermont mother wanted to teach her then-14-year-old son a lesson after he came home with electronic cigarettes he stole from a gas station. So she called the police.
What happened next that evening in May 2021 is the basis for a lawsuit by the mother alleging that Burlington police used excessive force and discriminated against her unarmed son, who is Black and has behavioral and intellectual disabilities.
After he failed to hand over the last of the stolen e-cigarettes, two officers physically forced him to do so, then Cathy Austrian’s son was handcuffed and pinned to the ground as he screamed and struggled, according to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday and police body-camera video shared with The Associated Press by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont.
The teen eventually was injected with a ketamine, a sedative, then taken to a hospital, according to the lawsuit and video.
“The police chose to respond to my son with unprovoked violence and use of force, when they could and should have followed their own procedures and used safe, supportive methods,” Austrian said in a statement provided by the ACLU of Vermont, which is representing her case.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/black-teen-lawsuit-excessive-force-vermont-disabilities-7b638ed26c299c7f07033968274e8f37
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... interesting lawsuit. I wonder how much the mother and police discussed this "lesson" plan. Did the police know about the child's behavioral and intellectual disabilities and how did that help determine the plan. Who authorized "ketamine" and where did that come from... usually, these types of behavioral modification techniques do NOT work well on children with these issues. Non-aversive management gets better results.
