BOSTON (WHDH) - A security firm has agreed to sweeping changes after an employee allegedly choked and punched an 11-year-old girl accused of shoplifting at a store in Boston back in 2019.
Securitas entered a two-year agreement with the state, in which they must make changes to how they train guards and special police officers, as well as how they retain records, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced Wednesday.
“The changes in training will include de-escalation of high-risk situations, management of aggressive behavior, unconscious bias, and handling and processing of juvenile offenders,’’ Rollins said. “Revisions to the training program will incorporate principles in limits of authority and use of force.”
Securitas will also make a charitable donation of $25,000 to an organization that seeks to address the mental health/trauma related needs of young individuals and/or seeks to address the effect of community policing on juveniles and emerging adults, Rollins added.
If the company complies with this agreement, then criminal charges will be dropped against them on May 4, 2023.
Securitas and an employee, Mohammad Khan, were charged in 2019 with assault and battery on a child under 14 and one count each of civil rights violations.
Khan allegedly used excessive and unreasonable force to detain an 11-year-old girl who is said to have admitted to taking several items of clothing from Primark on Summer Street on June 9, 2019.
Khan had been reprimanded at least four times previously for using more force than permitted by the company and for violating protocol, Rollins said.
Khan returns to court on June 9 for a readiness hearing.
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