Police restrain unruly child at Socorro elementary school.

John Armijo, a 7-year-old special-needs student at Parkview Elementary School in Socorro, was handcuffed by a police officer last Friday when a school counselor couldn't get him to calm down, El Defensor Chieftain in Socorro reported on its Web site this week.

According to a police report, Officer Greg Valentino was called to the school a little after 9 a.m. to find the boy screaming and crying in Principal Kim Ortiz's office and struggling to get away from school counselor Laurie Jaurequi's bear hug, the Defensor Chieftain reported.

The officer suggested releasing the boy but he became more violent, and after failing to restrain the boy himself, the officer warned he would handcuff him if he didn't calm down, according to the police report.

"In order to restrain him the most effectively and for his safety, I placed him into handcuffs," Valentino said in his report.

After a few minutes, the boy calmed down, according to the paper.

Schools Superintendent Frank Jaramillo said he didn't witness the incident but the school district had investigated the incident.

"We don't like to do that," Jaramillo told the Defensor Chieftain, but he said he believed the action was appropriate in order to protect the child.

Socorro Police Chief Lawrence Romero also told the paper he supported the officer's decision, saying the boy was handcuffed for his own safety and the safety of those around him. And he told the Defensor Chieftain that the boy calmed down immediately after being restrained.

But members of the boy's family aren't so sure.

Randy Herrera of Socorro, the boy's uncle, told the paper that a behavior intervention plan was in place for his nephew but wasn't used in this case.

"That's one of the problems with our schools," Herrera said. "If schools were trained to deal with these kids, they wouldn't have to call the cops."

Herrera also told the paper he had consulted Albuquerque attorney Dennis Montoya about filing suit in the case.

Herrera told the paper he wasn't interested in getting money out of a lawsuit, but said, "I just don't want this to happen to other children."

Attorney Montoya said the family's goal is better training and supervision for police officers for dealing with children with special needs as well as adequate programs to serve those children in public schools, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

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