BAKER, La. (AP) - Baker School Superintendent Ulysses Joseph says he thinks police went too far when they put a Baker Middle School teacher in jail after she was accused of grabbing a student by his shirt and yanking him out of her classroom.
Baker Police Chief Mike Knaps tells The Advocate (https://bit.ly/1dYFQ1d ) 47-year-old Deborah Anderson was booked Thursday with simple battery.
Knaps defended the Police Department’s decision to book Anderson by citing Police Department protocol.
“She snatched him, physically yanked him very hard. A teacher has no authority to do that,” Knaps said Thursday night.
Another incident a few weeks before at the same school involving police was handled differently, with a summons for simple battery issued to a paraprofessional accused of choking a student.
The paraprofessional was not booked into jail, but Knaps said she should have been.
“Both should have been booked,” Knaps said. “That’s our protocol, and the officer involved chose on his own to issue a summons.”
Knaps said the officer who chose to issue the summons instead of book the educator has been disciplined but declined to elaborate further.
Knaps also said Thursday’s booking of Anderson might have had something to do with the department’s failure to book the paraprofessional weeks before.
It was unclear whether Anderson has an attorney.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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