A New York sheriff's office defended two officers who detained and handcuffed an 11-year-old girl this week, saying the girl matched the suspect's description. The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office responded to criticism after video of the encounter was posted online, calling the deputies' actions "reasonable" but saying the office would change its policy to notify any children detained in connection with a criminal investigation for parent or guardian purposes, but in this case it did not do so.

The 11-year-old girl, whose identity has not been released, was handcuffed by deputies for seven minutes Monday afternoon in Syracuse, according to a detention schedule released by the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office said she was dressed similarly to a man. Wanted for auto theft. The girl was detained a few blocks away from where the stolen car was initially found, the Sheriff's Office said.

The suspect, who like the girl is black, has not yet been identified or captured. The deputy's patrol car's dash cam recorded her as she fled the stolen vehicle, the Sheriff's Office said.

A woman who identified herself as the 11-year-old girl's mother on Facebook shared video of the girl's interaction with officers on her page, but she could not immediately be reached. As of early Thursday afternoon, her Facebook post had been shared nearly 6,000 times and received more than 130 comments, the vast majority of which criticized the Sheriff's Office for handcuffing the girl and failing to notify her parents that she was Detained.

In the video, the girl stands with two police officers on a snowy sidewalk with her hands handcuffed behind her back. A deputy told the children who were with the girl that they could move on, but one of the children responded that she had to stay with the girl because they were related.

"We can't just leave her like this," one of the children said.

One of the children told deputies they were coming from school. The female officer told the handcuffed girl that someone wearing "the exact same clothes you were wearing" had stolen a car, prompting one of the children to reply: "We don't know how to drive."

The female deputy said to her, "What do you mean? Most kids can't drive and yet they're still out here stealing cars."

The children told deputies they had been playing in the snow on their way home from school.

Deputies told the children the suspect was wearing clothing similar to that of the 11-year-old girl - a pink jacket and camouflage pants.

"Exact same description," the male deputy said.

The female officer told the children that she was waiting to receive a photo of the suspect and that if it wasn't the girl they had in custody, they would let her go.

After receiving the photo, the police officer raised his phone and asked the child in her custody: "Girl, can you tell me this is not you?"

Children gathered around the officers to look at the photos and pointed out differences between the girl and the suspect, including differences in skin color and the shoes she was wearing. At one point in the video, the girl can be heard crying.

The Sheriff's Office said an officer who saw the dashcam footage used FaceTime to view the handcuffed child and determined she was not a suspect. The Sheriff's Office said in a statement that it documented differences between the girl and the suspect, including the camouflage pattern on the pants, the texture of the pink jacket, the length of the hair and skin color.

"This situation was quickly resolved, largely due to the juvenile's character, patience and cooperation," the Sheriff's Office said.

Sheriff Tobias Shelley said he had met with the girl's mother to discuss her concerns and said he understood why she was upset that she was not told her daughter was being handcuffed. The Sheriff's Office said it would change its policy to "notify the parent or guardian of any juvenile detained for the purposes of a criminal investigation, regardless of how brief the exposure."

The New York Civil Liberties Union condemned the officers’ actions, saying in a statement, “Syracuse Sheriff’s deputies’ brutal treatment of an 11-year-old black child and their failure to notify the child’s police officers left the child in jeopardy. The Alliance is extremely disturbed." parents. "

"This abuse raises serious concerns about implicit racial bias, which often leads law enforcement officers to view children of color as threats. It also raises questions about the Sheriff's Office's proper training and protocols," the civil rights group said . “The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office must engage the community in the conversation and make further changes based on the community’s input.”

"Detainees are often initially placed in handcuffs" because they may become uncooperative, run away or fight, the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

"Handcuffing the juvenile in this situation is legal, consistent with policy, and is common law enforcement practice," the statement said.

The girl's mother told NBC affiliate WSTM-TV in Syracuse that she couldn't understand what she saw when she watched the video.

"Even if it wasn't my child, I wouldn't be able to watch the video because that's not the way to treat a child," she told the station.