Police remove unvaccinated child with fever from home in ‘troubling’ video

‘We need to admit that this situation was a mistake,’ says state representative who supported bill allowing cops to remove children in non-emergency situations

A new video showing police forcibly entering a home in Arizona and removing a sick two-year-old child has caused anger and concern among state politicians.

The video shows a team of officers breaking down a door with their guns drawn after receiving a search warrant to remove the child who had been reported to local officials by a naturopathic doctor.

The family took their child to the naturopathic doctor, who specialises in pseudoscientific and alternative forms of “natural” medicine, when he reached a temperature of 41C (105F). When the doctor discovered the family had not taken the child immediately to an emergency room — as he had instructed — he called the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

The Department of Child Safety then called the Chandler police department, who went to check on the child. A team of officers returned with a search warrant to remove the child at about 1.30am local time after the father failed to open the door for them or respond to their requests for entry.

Kelly Townsend, a Republican lawmaker who supported the local bill requiring Arizona’s Department of Child Safety to receive a search warrant prior to removing a child from a home during a non-emergency situation, said after viewing the video, “That is not the country that I recognise.”

“The doctor chose to use [Department of Child Services] to remove the child and [Department of Child Services] chose to use the police and the police chose to use the SWAT team,“ she said in an interview with ABC15 Arizona, a local ABC affiliate.

“We need to admit that this situation was a mistake,” Ms Townsend continued. “There are other situations where there is neglect, there is abuse and that's what we need to focus on.”

A lawyer for the family called the situation “absolutely ridiculous” in an interview with the news channel.

“All because of a fever. A fever! It's absolutely ridiculous,” said Nicholas Boca, who has been working to reunite the family with the child. “That type of kicking your door in, with guns drawn... it should be reserved for violent criminals.”

“They have a good family,” he added, “and this is a waste of state resources.”

The doctor feared the child may have been suffering from meningitis when he called the local department of child services, according to Ms Townsend.

The two-year-old was reportedly unvaccinated and had previously been to the same naturopathic doctor who called officials. The child’s family says his fever broke shortly after visiting the doctor, so they decided not to take him to the emergency room.