In April 2014 Tyeesha Mobley , a young Black single mother in New York City, discovered that her 9-year-old son Tyleke stole $10 out of her purse. Ms. Mobley feared that this behavior would lead him down a dangerous path, so she decided to teach him a lesson. She?called 911, a mistake she would later regret.
Mobley agreed to meet the officers at a nearby gas station in hopes of teaching her son a valuable lesson. When the officers arrived at first they played along, they gave young Tyleke a stern talking to about stealing. One of the officers told him:
?You can’t be stealing. You’ll wind up going in the police car.?
However it didn’t take long before this innocent “scared straight” lesson took an unexpected turn. One of the officers turned his focus toward Mobley herself. According to Mobley, he launched into a racist rant and called her a bad parent.
?You black b?-es don’t know how to take care of your kids ? you need to call the kids? father, not us ? we can’t raise your kids ? why are you wasting our time, we aren’t here to raise your kid ? why don’t you take your f?ing kid and leave??
Things quickly escalated leading to her arrest by the very people she had hoped would help save her son from a life of crime. According to Mobley, the officer used racist language and unnecessary force during her arrest. From DNA Info:
The officer’s actions even prompted a female colleague in a squad car to roll down her window and tell him, ?We are not supposed to act like this,? the lawsuit says.
But the arresting officer responded to his female colleague by saying, ?Black b?-es like that ? this is how I treat them,? according to the suit.
Mobley spent the night in jail, but the biggest blow came from Child Protective Services;?CPS decided to take both of her children away and would not reunite with them for four?months.
A judge eventually threw out the case against Mobley, but not before her kids experienced extreme psychological trauma from the experience. Mobley and her children are still in therapy. Mobley stated:
?They are really traumatized,? she said. ?All my little one knows is the cops took him away from his mother.?
Mobley did not let this experience defeat her; recently she started taking courses on criminal justice, hoping to give her sons a positive example despite their horrific experience. On Friday March 13th, Mobley launched a lawsuit against the NYPD and the city’s Administration For Children Services. Mobley’s Lawyer Philip Sporn said:
?She’s raising her kids to be good kids. They’re respectful and polite, this wasn’t the intended result.?
