Federal Report: Chicago Cops Use Excessive Force On Juveniles
(CBS) -- Several pages of the report focus on excessive force against children and teens, and even dogs.
CBS 2's Audrina Bigos reports.
Friday night hoops at Hubbard High School. The school on Chicago's Southwest Side is made up of mostly blacks and Latinos.
These teens live in the neighborhoods where the U.S. Department of Justice says police officers are using excessive force against children.
Terrance Cole says he and his 17-year-old son, Keyshawn, know firsthand.
"Even if we're just standing on the corner they harass you," he says of police.
The DOJ report says this is not uncommon in Chicago.
In one case, "officers hit a 16-year-old girl with a baton and then Tasered her after she was asked to leave the school for having a cell phone"
To a group of teens, an officer "pointed his gun at them, used profanity, and threatened to put their heads through a wall and to blow up their homes."
And in another incident, "an officer forcibly handcuffed a 12-year-old Latino boy who was outside riding a bike under his father's supervision."
The report also talks about Chicago police shooting dogs unnecessarily or recklessly.
In one case, Chicago police shot and killed a dog in 2015, even though a Little Village woman begged them no to. The dog, Brownie, just had a litter of 11 pups two days before.
CPD's Taser policy does not address the use of stun devices on children. The DOJ says it should.
