SENATOBIA, Miss. (WREG) — An officer is no longer employed at the Senatobia Police Department after a 10-year-old was detained for urinating in public last week.
In a statement released on Facebook Monday afternoon, Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler said after an internal investigation, one of the officers involved is “no longer employed” and the other officers will face discipline.
Chandler also addressed the arrest of Latonya Eason, the child’s mother. He said Eason had a warrant through Justice Court and was taken into custody by the Tate County Sheriff’s Office after she came to the police department the next day to talk to an officer about a separate incident.
When WREG interviewed Eason after the incident, she said she was considering taking legal action against the Senatobia Police Department.
You can read the police department’s full statement below:
“Dear Senatobia Community,
Several of our officers were recently involved in an incident that involved a ten-year-old juvenile. The officer’s decision violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations.
The following day the mother of that child came into the Senatobia Police Department to speak to an officer about a separate civil matter. Our officers were aware that she had an active warrant through Justice Court and contacted Tate County Sheriff’s Office to take custody of her.
The Senatobia Police Department has a process for investigating complaints from the public, and complaints that originate internally. This incident triggered an internal complaint and was investigated according to our procedures. As a result of this investigation, one of the officers involved is no longer employed, and the others will be disciplined. We will also have mandatory Juvenile training department-wide, just as we do every year.
We appreciate the public’s patience while we investigated this incident. We deeply value your trust and support, and we are dedicated to continually improving and learning from our mistakes.
Together, we will move forward towards building a safer and more respectful environment for all.”
