Incident 2010 SRO Harold Ford Brutalizes Eight-Year-Old

Incident Description

While employed with the Richmond Police Department as a School Resource Officer at Fairfield Court Elementary School, Harold L. Ford was reportedly called in to a classroom to deal with a misbehaving child. He then reportedly took a Black eight-year-old girl into the hall and assaulted her, forced the child into handcuffs, then slammed her face-down in a police car, a civil rights complaint stated.

The case, Brown et al v Ford, was filed by Sakia Hall on behalf of the child on January 25, 2011 in Richmond Circuit Court, then later transferred to Virginia Eastern District Court as a federal case.

Judge James R. Spencer, presiding, dismissed the case with prejudice after Harold L. Ford's attorneys cited qualified immunity. Ford continued serving as an officer with the City. In 2019 and 2023, he ran for Sheriff in Henrico County.