Grand Rapids' police chief says his officers should have exercised discretion rather than handcuff an 11-year-old girl while investigating a stabbing.
Police Chief David Rahinsky said Tuesday that police body-camera footage of Honestie Hodges screaming as she's being taken into custody are "disturbing" and show the need for policing changes.
Police went a family's Grand Rapids home on Dec. 6 looking for the girl's aunt, who was suspected of stabbing another relative.
She wasn't at the home, but Hodges, her mother and another relative were taken into custody.
All three were released once police identified them. But the girl's mother, Whitney Hodges, tells MLive.com the fifth-grader was traumatized when she was handcuffed, patted down and put into a patrol car.
An internal affairs investigation of the incident is underway.
