A New York man is slamming officers from the White Plains Police Department for handcuffing his teenage daughter when she reached out to them for help during a mental health crisis.
Clifton Moody’s daughter called the police to her building last Saturday, Jan. 20, while having a panic attack, WABC reported. During a panic attack, an individual may experience shortness of breath, fast heart rate, chest pain, or intense feeling of danger, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The teen also called Moody for help, and when he got to the lobby, he saw that she was placed in handcuffs. Video taken by Moody shows his child sitting on the ground with officers hovering over her.
“There’s no reason why y’all should be tackling a 13-year-old,” the father said while his daughter was crouched down in the corner of the room with a hoodie over her head.
Moody criticized how the officers handled the situation, arguing they were overly aggressive.
“If someone is having a mental episode why would you want to put them in handcuffs, and if you are restraining them why are you tackling them or you holding them in a position?” Moody told News 12.
The father told local news outlets that his daughter, who has been grappling with anxiety and self-harm, initially ran away from the officers when they got to the scene. Her fearful reaction stemmed from an encounter with one of the responding officers last month.
“When she saw a cop that was there, it kind of triggered her, and she didn’t want to talk, so she went the other way,” Moody added.
According to reports, police said they handcuffed the eighth-grader for safety reasons and that the incident is under investigation. Moody says his daughter is injured and is now walking on crutches. He sent the news stations a photo of her foot in a cast.
“There’s no reason for a 13-year-old to be coming back with a fractured foot or fractured anything when you’re 13, especially when you’ve got two adult cops on the scene. They should be able to handle that,” Moody told WABC.
The police did not arrest the child, and Moody has since filed a complaint.
