The police office who pointed a gun at a terrified 11 year old girl before handcuffing her will face no disciplinary measures, the Grand Rapids Police Department in Michigan announced Wednesday.
The officer can be seen in body camera footage detaining Honestie Hodges, an 11-year-old black American girl, at gunpoint as her mother screams at the police from her porch. The incident occurred in early December during a search for a 40-year-old white female wanted for attempted murder.
Hodges, who is the suspect’s niece, was on her way out the door with another aunt and her mother when police arrived.
Grand Rapids Police Chief David Rahinsky said the lack of punishment “in no way diminishes our commitment to identifying what can be done to prevent similar incidents in the future. Concrete steps are being taken to ensure equitable outcomes in our interactions with the community,” in a Wednesday Facebook statement.
Rahinsky told reporters he believes the officers acted incorrectly while announcing the investigation into the incident in mid December, adding that watching the video of the confrontation made him sick .
“You listen to the 11-year-old’s response, it makes my stomach turn,” he said. “It makes me physically nauseous.”
But in his Wednesday statement Rahinsky maintained that the internal probe found the officer did not violate departmental policy.
African-American leaders in Grand Rapids have condemned the officer’s actions and recently expressed disappointment at the lack of disciplinary action.
“We are dismayed that there would even be the possibility of no disciplinary action on behalf of an officer, especially since the process of investigation and discipline is totally controlled by the Grand Rapids Police Department,” Rev. Jerry Bishop of LifeQuest Ministries told Grand Rapids news station WOOD-TV.