SEPTA has taken responsibility for the way its police officers potentially put a young child in danger as they tried to make an arrest last Thursday.

Ellis Smith, 20, boarded a southbound train with his 2-year-old daughter at the Margaret-Orthodox station on the Market-Frankford line. A SEPTA cashier reported that Smith had evaded his toll, and police officers were dispatched to write him a ticket.

According to the description of the video that went viral Friday morning, the man had paid his $2.25 fare, and the officers were questioning him about whether or not he had paid for his daughter. The audio is difficult to make out, but at one point Smith offers the SEPTA transit officer some cash.

Children under the age can ride SEPTA for free. The shaky video shows on the end of the chaotic scene: the man being handcuffed, removed from the train, and detained while still holding his daughter at Huntingdon station.

At a 3:30 press conference, SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel released surveillance video that shows the events leading up the detainment.

A SEPTA transit officer approached Smith and spoke with him for nearly 14 minutes, requesting that he exit the train at the next stop. Smith reportedly refused, and more officers were called in. The situation got out of hand before it spilled over onto the platform.

Critics mainly questioned why police officers would put a child’s safety in danger as benign as a fare evasion ticket. Nestel took full responsibility.

“I’m concerned about this entire episode. We can’t endanger the lives of little kids over fare evasion,” he said. “That’s unacceptable and that’s on me.”

If the approaching officer — a 16-year veteran with no prior complaints — didn’t feel comfortable walking away from the situation, Nestel said SEPTA and the Philadelphia Police Department haven’t provided proper training.

Last year, SEPTA police officers issued 5,100 tickets for fare evasion. And in that same time, violent crimes have fallen by 30 percent across all of the transit authority’s routes.

While SEPTA will continue to treat fare evasion as a crime, Nestel insisted that this incident was not representative of the practice. An internal investigation is still underway. No charges have been announced against either party.

“It’s not about him. This is about us,” Nestel said. “I’m not going to change how someone in the public deals with the police. I have to change how the police deal with the public.”