Mother, Tiffany Kelly, started a petition to spread awareness to an issue she had with the Maryland County Police Department.
What We Know:
- On May 14th, Kelly’s son was handing out toy money on his school bus as a way to learn to socialize. Kelly’s son has a disability that makes socializing hard for him. The toy money was bought on Amazon and it has pink Asian symbols and dotted lines on it.
- When the money was found on the bus, the school officials contacted the Maryland Police Department. The responding officers questioned the 10 year old.
- According to Kelly’s petition, she did not know any of this was happening until the officer called her at 4pm. The officer advised Kelly that it was not illegal to play with fake money unless someone tries to spend it. Kelly is concerned for how long the officer might have been questioning her son. “At what point do officers determine that a law has not been broken and they move one?”
- A spokesperson for Montgomery County Public Schools advised that “the police should have not been called”. “MCPS staff are actively working with the parents to address her concerns. There were some clear missteps on our part and we are working to ensure the process is clear moving forward for staff and that incidents like this do not happen again.”
- The Montgomery Police Department stated that there was no racial profiling when they investigated the toy money.
Kelly’s petition has gained 407 signatures since it was put up.
