• Onondaga County deputies handcuffed an 11-year-old girl mistakenly linked to a car theft.
• The incident drew widespread criticism, particularly for the treatment of a young child.
• As a result, the Sheriff’s Office plans to change its policies regarding the detention of minors.

The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office in Syracuse, New York, has announced a change in its policy regarding the detention of minors following a disturbing incident involving an 11-year-old girl. The girl was wrongly handcuffed by deputies while they were investigating a stolen vehicle when they mistook her for the suspect. Video footage of the girl, who remains unidentified, has circulated widely, depicting her standing in handcuffs on a snowy sidewalk, visibly distressed and crying, which sparked public outrage. The girl was stopped approximately six blocks from where the car theft occurred, and it has been confirmed that she wore clothing similar to that of the actual suspect—alluding to potential issues of racial bias in law enforcement practices (New York Times).

According to reports, the girl was in custody for about seven minutes. During this time, deputies were under the impression they might have apprehended the suspect due to the resemblance, as both individuals are Black and were dressed comparably. Only after reviewing dashcam video did the officers determine their mistake (AP News). Criticism mounted not only regarding the handcuffing of a minor, a practice that some view as excessive, but also because the girl’s parents were not informed of her detention.

In response to the backlash, Sheriff Toby Shelley met with the girl's mother to address her concerns and confirmed that henceforth, parents will be notified whenever their children are detained during criminal investigations—not solely at the point of arrest. The sheriff's office previously asserted that handcuffs are standard procedure for all detainees to mitigate risks, a policy now questioned by community advocates highlighting the inherent risks of misidentification and the potential emotional trauma inflicted on young detainees. Expert opinions underline the alarming trend of perceiving children of color as threats, raising serious questions about implicit racial bias within the local law enforcement framework.