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Police defend arrest of 12-year-old in western Michigan

Posted at 5:46 PM, Jun 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-18 17:46:03-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Police in western Michigan are defending their actions in the arrest of a 12-year-old black boy following online criticism about the response of officers.

Grand Rapids police say they were called Friday about a fight and the boy was arrested after he was seen chasing and hitting a man with a wooden pole.

The boy’s mother, Bernice Jones, says her son was playing and chasing a cousin, and she says police overreacted.

The department summarized its response in a Facebook post following a witness’ post criticizing officers, who were described as mostly white.

Michigan’s Civil Rights office earlier this year announced it was investigating about two dozen complaints accusing the department of discrimination. The department has a youth-interaction policy created after criticism over the 2017 handcuffing of a girl.

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