By Aaron Miller-
The U.S mother of a 4-year-old special education student in Chicago Public Schools Says the police officer that abused her 4 year old must pay the ultimate price for his offence.
Shanece Williams is suing the Board of Education, after claiming a Chicago police officer, abused her son while working as a school security guard and that officials attempted to cover it up.
Shanece Williams has gone out of her way to inform media groups about the allegation, which she has alleged in a federal lawsuit . Ms Williams told The Eye Of Media.Com today that there is no way should let this case lie.
Chicago public schools are a subject of interest to academic researchers from Chicago and other states due to the historically high crime rate in the city, and the push for high standard education to keep children focused and ambitious. Parents and educationalists have invested time money and effort to establish a disciplined system of education in many Chicago schools.
”Malpractise by the police and enforcement agents are known to be covered up when the evidence is not there, but they also try to sweep it under the carpet when it is there in abundance. This abuse will not be covered up”, she said. The insult to a mother of having her 4 year old child abused and malhandled like that causes sleepless nights.
She alleges that the security guard at John T. McCutcheon Elementary School in Uptown dragged her son down a hallway March 2, inflicting “severe emotional distress” on him in an incident she said she didn’t learn about for weeks.
Williams first became aware about the incident in late April and is still very angry that she was repeatedly blocked from getting more information on the case. Williams filed the lawsuit against the officer and the Chicago Board of Education.
She told reporters on Tuesday: “I have so many unanswered questions,” Williams said. “When I first heard this news, my heart dropped. I felt so heartbroken. I felt like I couldn’t protect my baby from harm.” Today she told us ” even the wait for legal suit to play out is frustrating. I wish the case will start tomorrow.
The Chicago Police Department declined to comment on pending litigation.
Emily Bolton, a spokesperson for CPS said in a statement that “the district takes allegations of student harm seriously. The safety of our students is the district’s highest priority and we are committed to creating safe and supportive school environments.”
Bolton added that the CPS was “in the process of moving for termination against the employee when he submitted his resignation,” and that he will receive a “do not hire” designation.
Investigation
Williams has been boiling about the case since the end of April, after the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services alerted her it was investigating the case. She said school officials denied her request for an incident report, and about a month later, the Chicago Board of Education informed her it was conducting its own investigation.
She said she didn’t receive any answers until this fall, when CPS’ Office of Student Protections and Title IX sent her a letter Nov. 2 saying that, after investigating alleged physical abuse, it classified the matter as “substantiated.”
The letter stated the city’s Law Department would determine the level of discipline for the officer.
“I trusted that school with my child, and they allowed him to be abused and tried to cover it up,” Williams said. “How could you not protect a 4-year-old child? How could you not tell me what happened?”
Her lawsuit further accuses McCutcheon officials of refusing to comply with DCFS, which launched its investigation after a mandatory reporter at the school reported the incident. Chicago schools are seriously contemplating excluding police officers from schools. Excluding officers from schools in Chicago could be a costly error of judgement because of the erratic and unruly behaviour of some students.
The mother’s lawyer, Michael Jarard said Williams’ son had wanted to be a police officer before the incident, and the injuries he suffered were “mental in nature.” Jarard said much remains unknown about the incident, including why the officer intervened with Williams’ son to begin with.
“It has been six long months, and I still don’t know what happened,” Williams said. “No parent should have to fight this hard to find out the well-being of their