Autistic Boy Handcuffed By Cops at Police Tennis Program

All a mother wanted was to help her Black son, who is autistic, feel comfortable around police officers. 

Her uncle was an officer and she has a lot of respect for what they do. 

“I wanted him to have a positive view of police officers and not all the negativity he sees on TV,” Shelia Jackson said.

According to WTVR 6 News, she signed him up for the after-school tennis program at Virginia Commonwealth University, where officers from the Richmond Police Department volunteer through the Richmond Police Athletic League.

However, when she arrived at the tennis court to pick up her son on Nov. 3, she found him 

on the ground in handcuffs.

“We ended up going to VCU emergency room. They diagnosed him with a TBI concussion,” Jackson said.

WTVR 6 News reports:

Jackson said the staff at the tennis program said her son was getting frustrated on his serves, and they told him to practice off to the side. But she is unclear on what happened next.

Her son said one of the police officers raised her voice at him, and he started to walk away from her.

“He knows to try to self-regulate and walk away from a situation, she may have thought he was being defiant,” Jackson said.

After that, Jackson said her son said the officer grabbed him.

“When I got here my son was handcuffed on the ground right behind where that fence is opened,” Jackson said. “There was an officer holding his head, there was an officer on his left leg, someone on his right leg, there was an officer on his right side kneeling holding his shoulders down and then there was another officer standing up.”

Jackson said Richmond Police told her that her son headbutted an officer while they detained him, and they were worried he was going to run.

But she is still not sure why he was handcuffed, and what exactly happened that caused him to get a concussion.

“That is not how he should be dealt with, not only my son, anyone,” Jackson said. “Where is the training? Are you just going to the training and you’re not taking it in?”

Jackson said she spoke with several people at the Tennis program and officers with the Richmond Police but she’s still not getting any answers. The police report also doesn’t shed any light on the situation.

Now the mother is back to her original concern and is worried that this incident will affect her son’s mental health.

A spokesperson for the Richmond Police Department said they are conducting an internal investigation that is ongoing, and they could not provide any more details at this time.