A 14-year-old boy was pinned to the sidewalk, a knee pressed against his back, by an off-duty Chicago police officer who thought he had stolen his son's bicycle.
A video of the incident in Park Ridge, Illinois, has been circulating online wherein a man can be seen kneeling on a boy surrounded by his friends.
In the footage, the off-duty police officer was dressed in shorts and a bright blue jacket.
The boy was at the coffee shop with friends when they found an abandoned bike resting on the pavement. The bike belonged to the cop's son. The victim had removed the bike as it was blocking the sidewalk.
Police officer displaying the abuse of power
He accused the 14-years-old of stealing his son's bicycle despite the boy having his own bike with him. The boys' friends intervened and tried to put a space between the two. They also begged the police officer to get off their friend.
According to the Mirror, the man identified himself to responding Park Ridge Police officers as an off-duty Chicago officer.
The teenager was identified as Josh Nieves, a Park Ridge eighth-grader who is Puertorican. According to his parents, he was singled out from the other kids present due to his dark skin.
Angel and Nicole Nieves, Josh's parents, said the police officer was supposed to protect their son, not harm him, considering that he is a legal officer, per NBC Chicago.
Discrimination against people with dark skin
According to the boy's parents, "We see the bias in an off-duty officer taking advantage of our brown boy, with afro hair, smaller in stature, choosing to take the law into his own hands with physical force, a clear abuse of his position of authority."
Discrimination against dark-skinned people is not just observed in the United States but also around the globe.
Per the We Forum, the vestige of colonialism is still present in countries in the Global South where white people are a minority. People with lighter skin tones benefit from preferential treatment in employment, media representation, and education.
Officials told Daily Mail that the police are currently conducting an internal investigation into the officer's behavior.
Nicole shared the footage of the incident in a post on Facebook Sunday, revealing she plans to file a formal complaint against the department.
Police are Legal Enforcers and they play a vital role in society as they protect citizens and maintain public order and safety but when they abuse their powers, they will cause harm to individuals, society, and freedom.
Such abuse of power is called police misconduct which refers to the illegal or inappropriate action done by an officer. Police misconduct occurs due to instances of excessive use of power, racial profiling, ans others.
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