Philly Cop With History of Brawling Gets Into Fight With Teenage Daughter's Classmate
Zero tolerance for cops might not be a bad idea
Officer Tamika Gross of the Philadelphia Police Department had at least one complaint filed against her for fighting on duty, in 2009, and was also the subject of an internal affairs report in 2012 that noted she had "a history of getting in off-duty incidents involving her own children when they engage in disputes with area juveniles," according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
Gross, however, is apparently back at it, being investigated for jumping into a fight between her 16-year-old daughter and another 14-year-old girl, Tashiyya Higgins, at the high school. Gross' daughter saw a picture of the other girl with her ex-boyfriend and the two girls exchanged messages over social media. The boy was actually Higgins' cousin. Gross went to the school to complain that her daughter was being harassed by Higgins but Higgins' mother says school officials decided it was actually the other way around, suspending the cop's daughter.
Is this where the officer decided to step it up as a mom and teach her daughter a lesson about bullying? Not quite. Via the Daily News:
When Haggins and her friend walked outside the main door later that day [after Gross came to the school to complain and had her daughter suspended], she said, she saw Gross' daughter jump out of a silver Dodge Charger.
"She said, 'Mom, that's her right there!' " Haggins recalled. "Her mom got out of the car and said, 'Sure, you all want to fight over an autistic boy, go ahead and fight.' "
Haggins-Montgomery said the boy is not autistic.
Haggins said she and the other girl "got to fighting" and were "throwing punches" while Gross and her son watched by the car.
Haggins recalls hearing Gross' son say during the brawl: "Mom, don't jump in there, it's not your fight."
Gross didn't listen, Haggins said. "I was beating her up, and her mom jumped in and hit me in my eye," she said. "That's when everyone else started breaking it up."
During the fight, one of Haggins' friends called her mother.
"I hear her girlfriend say 'They jumpin' Tashiyya, they jumpin' Tashiyya!' " Haggins-Montgomery said. "All I can do is panic because I can hear my child screaming 'Her mom, her mom hit me!' "
Haggins-Montgomery said she learned from a police supervisor who responded to the fight that Gross is a cop.
"Even if she didn't want to be a cop that day, she could have been a parent and been like, 'No. You don't do stuff like that,' " Haggins-Montgomery said. "You don't jump in a kids' fight. What gave you the gall to do that? You're a police officer. I'm sure they train y'all on different things like this."
"More training" may likely be the exact response of the police department to the case. Might zero tolerance work better for cops?