The sad reality of schools today is police officers being present due to increased violence in recent years.
This happened in a behaviour support unit and it surprises me that he was not aware of outbursts and issues the children may have.
Was he trained on how to deal with children appropriately?
The casual nature in which he carried out the violence suggests it may not be new to him.
We must also note he attempted to intimidate a teacher who pointed out his abuse of power.
CCTV captured a little boy with severe autism trying to crawl away in terror as a police officer launches a savage assault.
As the recording begins the boy, aged 10, is on the floor of a school corridor, when former Merseyside Police PC Christopher Cruise, 57, raises his leg threateningly as if he is going to launch a kick.
The boy attempts to crawl through a door before Cruise reaches down, grabs him by the hood of his coat and drags him across the corridor while the boy’s legs trail behind him.
The child was left with injuries to his knee following the attack.
Cruise, a former school liaison officer, was convicted of assault against the boy at Crewe Magistrates’ Court – a conviction upheld by a judge at Chester Crown Court following an unsuccessful appeal.
The incident took place in January 2020, at a special educational needs school in the Liverpool area.
Cruise retired before the force’s disciplinary process concluded, but at a hearing last month Cruise was found guilty of gross misconduct and would have been sacked if he remained on the payroll.
That hearing was told that after the incident Cruise walked into a classroom and asked the children if they could hear the victim crying.
He then pointed at one of the children and said: “You’re next”.
A teacher at the school also told officers he felt Cruise was trying to intimidate him to prevent him reporting the assault during a conversation later the same day.
After being found guilty by magistrates, Cruise, part of the force’s Safer Schools unit, was fined £800 and ordered to pay £100 in compensation, as well as £500 in prosecution costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
His appeal landed him with a further £1,620 bill in court costs.
“His sentence was so lenient. He is a bully, that’s all he is, just a bully.”
Speaking earlier about the incident, she added: “We did not even know about it until Careline called his mum.
“We didn’t even take it to court, that was the school and Merseyside Police.
“He has autism and he struggles a lot. He is much younger in his head, more like a five year old.
“He is also small for his age as he had growth problems.
“We are all absolutely furious. His days are hard enough already.”
The family say the boy has still not talked about the assault, and they are unclear what started it.
Speaking after the misconduct hearing, Detective Superintendent Cheryl Rhodes from the force’s Professional Standards Department said: “Merseyside Police takes the professional standards of its officers and staff extremely seriously.
The actions of this officer are not reflective of the behaviour and standards of our schools officers who do a fantastic job day in and day out.
“Following the incident all schools officers underwent additional training in conjunction with the Merseyside Police training academy, School Improvement Liverpool and the local authority.
“The public quite rightly have high expectations of our officers and we seek to uphold that and ensure that the meet those expectations. Sadly, on a minority of occasions, when they fall short we will take swift and effective action to ensure that we retain the public’s confidence in the force.”
Did Cruise walk away with his full pension?
He retired before he was fired. That’s a big pay out via his pension. Or, if it’s taken back due to criminal acts while on duty?