Assault on 12-Year-Old Girl by Texas Police Officer Brings Back Memories of Other Incidents

When most people think of police officers, they think of strong, courageous, men and women who risk their lives everyday, taking criminals and other harmful people off the streets. While they’re mostly held highly, recent events have caused some people to question their motives, with an assault on a 12-year-old girl in Texas by a police officer being one of these events.

A San Antonio officer was shown on video, body-slamming a girl to the ground at a middle school in San Antonio. The officer in question, Joshua Kehm, was fired after throwing 12-year-old Janissa Valdez to the sidewalk. After she was thrown to the ground, Officer Kehm then pinned her hands behind her back to restrain her.

According to the Toronto Sun, “the officer was breaking up a confrontation between the girl and another student.” The district’s superintendent, Pedro Martinez, had this to say to the New York Times: “Additionally, the officer’s report was inconsistent with the video and it was also delayed[,] which is not in accordance with the general operating procedures of the Police Department. We want to be clear that we will not tolerate this behavior.”

With this statement out, it shows that the superintendent is not only shocked by Kehm’s actions, but also intolerant towards them as well.

This incident is reminiscent of when a South Carolina officer threw a female student out of her desk last October. The Washington Post reported that “deputy Ben Fields [...] was fired from the department for using excessive force during the arrest of a black female student in a math class at Spring Valley High School. [...] Fields ha[s] been suspended without pay and banned from the school district properties [since] the incident.”

Last June, a Texas police officer, Eric Casebolt, threw a 15-year-old girl to the ground during a pool party. Similar to both cases, the incident was recorded and posted on Youtube. USA Today reported that “[t]he seven-minute Youtube video show[ed] Cpl. Eric Casebolt using profanity and aggressively throwing a 15-year-old-girl in a bathing suit to the ground, face down. He then appeared to pin her down with his knees.” The person who threw the party, Tatyana Rhodes, was the victim of this officer’s aggression, telling USA Today, “He was just aggressive for no reason at all[.] It was horrible.”

There’s another similarity between these three incidents: all the victims were teenage black girls. This similarity may be coincidental, and there hasn’t been any released evidence that the officers have any prejudice towards African Americans.

The increasing trend in police violence is odd, to say the least. In a situation in which an officer will be harmed, they are allowed to use force to apprehend the suspect. This would also be applicable in a situation in which a gun is pointed at an officer when the shooter refuses to lower their weapon, the officer may use lethal force in that extreme situation. Last year, according to Cop Crisis, a total of 1,306 Americans were killed by police officers. That’s 3-4 people a day.

However, in these situations, it seems that the victims of the assault didn’t seem threatening. There were no signs of hitting or violence from the teens. If it’s a life or death situation, officers have the right to act, but when the suspect isn’t a hazard, officers should try to apprehend the suspect in the calmest and professional way possible.