Portland 9-year-old cuffed, taken to adult jail

Описание: PORTLAND, Ore. -- A local mother is outraged after her 9-year-old daughter is handcuffed and hauled off to jail.

The girl was taken into custody after fighting with another girl.

The girl's mother, Latoya Harris, said police arrested her daughter while she was still in a bathing suit, a fact that she says makes her want to cry every time she thinks about it.

"It was the fact that I couldn't protect my daughter from the very people that are supposed to be protecting us," Harris said. "The shame and the fear on her face, it hurts."

Harris says her daughter was humiliated as she was marched before her friends to a police car. The mother says her daughter has had to change schools because of the humiliation.

The event has left many questioning why Portland police would arrest a 9-year-old girl, put her in handcuffs and drive her to downtown's central precinct.

Police are not talking publicly about the arrest, but they said they do not have firm age guidelines when it comes to arresting people. And handcuffs in the back of a patrol car is not only a matter of policy, but a matter of safety for everyone in the car.

Joseph Hagedorn, a juvenile public defender, said he thinks police made a series of wrong decisions in this situation -- starting with the arrest and ending with them dropping off the girl in a jail cell in a regular adult facility.

"You have a 9-year-old. You have a safe home you can make a referral to the juvenile department -- you have plenty of options at your fingertips as a police officer," Hagedorn said.

Police made the arrest, but the district attorney's office did not file charges against the girl.

Harris says she has notified the city and plans to file a lawsuit about the arrest.