An angry Florida sheriff published the mugshot of an 11-year-old boy and two other juveniles facing charges of threats to carry out shootings. Volusia County, Florida, Sheriff Mike Chitwood posted a mugshot on social media of the preteen after he had been taken into custody. The boy is eleven years old. In a news conference last week, he said, “Your kid’s photo is going to be put out there. So that everybody can see what your kid’s up to every time we make an arrest.”
Talk of his efforts to shame and name have met with mixed opinions, some labeling the sheriff “vigilante” while others called the move a means of deterring crime.
The 11-year-old threatened to carry out a school shooting and provided a written list of persons he intended to target, according to Sheriff Chitwood, who claimed his agency had apprehended him. After that, the youngster said it was a joke, but BBC News is not naming him because of his age.
Sheriff Chitwood, in his post, said that he was charged with the crime of a written threat of a mass shooting and that the police had discovered several firearms that “included phony ammo, handguns, and airsoft rifles”.
Unlike most states and countries where the juveniles would have been granted anonymity, Florida law allows juvenile records to be made public only in cases where individuals are charged with felonies.
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On Wednesday, two more teens, ages 16 and 17, were arrested and charged with a crime for allegedly making threats of carrying out a school shooting on Snapchat. The sheriff added, ‘They said it was a joke, too. He shared a video showing the two exiting a squad car handcuffed and being processed into a prison.
Since he posted the video and photos of the accused defendants on his office’s social media accounts, an online debate about the sheriff’s move has been ongoing.
For some on social media, it could serve as a deterrent from committing the crime. On one of the sheriff’s Facebook posts, there was this comment: “Glad you are bringing these kids into custody and showing them this is not funny they need to be disciplined.”
Yet most of it raised concerns that it would have profound, unintended consequences for children and teens. Daniel Mears, a criminology professor at Florida State University who has studied school shootings, told the Associated Press that juvenile records “were supposed to be confidential for a reason.” “The idea was that kids would have a second shot in life,” said Prof. Mears, though he acknowledged threats against schools were different.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Chitwood said that “something has got to be done” despite the fact that he was uncertain whether the public humiliation would serve its purpose.
He posted on social media: “Kids need to realise that what they post and send on social media is not private.” “It will get reported to us.”
