The Murfreesboro Police Chief said his department needs to do things differently, after the video of a bullying incident prompted the arrest of young students.
"We don't want to repeat this...We need to do things differently," said Chief Karl Durr when questioned about his officers' actions.
"It's not the way I want things to go down. It's not the way I want things to happen," said Durr.
The chief was referring to the arrest of several children - ages 6 to 12 - at Hobgood Elementary and other schools in connection with a neighborhood bullying incident caught on camera.
Some of the older children, but no six-year-olds, were handcuffed at school which sparked outrage among some parents and civic leaders. Chief Durr said he understands.
"We need to give better guidance to officers and train them about handcuffing juveniles," said Durr.
Yet, he added his officers had a responsibility to act after seeing video of a young child being bullied.
"There is a victim there and an expectation for us to do something for that victim," said Durr.
He and prosecutors could not comment on specific details of the juvenile case, but other sources told NewsChannel 5 it was very likely the charges will be dropped against all of the young suspects, except one: The child holding the cell phone, who shot the video.
He faces an assault charge for egging on the others. That same child was also charged - along with three other youngsters - in a separate case for raping a 12-year-old girl.
He expected an internal review with suggestions what to do or not to do differently by the end of the month.
The chief said he will publicly share much of the findings and said he plans to keep an open conversation with parents and civic and church leaders.
