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Moratorium School-Related Arrests Home | Up | News Clips | Reports
03/19/06
More Miami-Dade students face detention for misdemeanors Excerpts: A 'zero-tolerance' policy against violent crimes has put more Miami-Dade students in handcuffs--for fighting, graffiti and other minor offenses. Tonia Green's sobs pierced the tiny courtroom, causing everyone to stare at her 13-year-old son who stood with cuffs gripping his wrists and ankles. ''Judge, please…the school didn't even notify me!'' Green wailed. ``They just carted my son away like some criminal.'' The charge -- kicking another student during a school fight. Miami-Dade Juvenile Court Judge Lester Langer glanced at the boy's paperwork, set a trial date and ordered the teen released into the mother's custody. …''The juvenile judges are seeing a lot of school-related cases that could have been handled at the school, such as schoolyard fights and kids acting out in class,'' said Langer, who has been on the bench since 1992 and in juvenile court since 1997. CIVIL CITATIONS …Langer and others on the 11th Circuit Juvenile Justice Board have lobbied school leaders for alternatives to arresting students. In November, the Miami-Dade School Board approved a civil citation initiative, which officials believe will curb a majority of the arrests. Officers are expected to begin training during spring break next month. ''By law we can make the arrest, but by conscience do you have to arrest?'' asked schools Police Chief Gerald Darling, who is leading the citation initiative. ``We want to eliminate the image of police being just an arresting agent.'' JUDGMENT CALLS Under the program, officers would issue civil citations to students for petty offenses such as minor altercations, disorderly conduct and trespassing. It would be a judgment call, at the discretion of officers who will be given guidelines to follow, Darling said. About 1,000 of last year's arrests could have been handled with a civil citation, the chief said. Darling, a soft-spoken child advocate, said he wants handcuffs to be a last resort in disciplining students. 'CRIMINALIZES' KIDS …''School districts have been delegating their responsibility of school discipline to police,'' said Jim Freeman, an attorney with the Advancement Project, a Washington-based civic group that focuses zero-tolerance issues. Freeman said he has come across cases in which young students were booked for possession of Midol tablets and butter knives. ROLE OF RACE …''People are kidding themselves if they think a teacher may not react differently to a black student acting out as opposed to a white student acting out,'' [Langer] said. Enforcing zero tolerance results in a large number of kids with a criminal record. The first stop along the way is usually the Miami-Dade Detention Center -- which some officials say should be avoided at all cost. …But it's the innocence of youth being stripped away that bothers some justice officials. About 10 percent of students arrested in 2004 were age 12 and under. … "There is only so much the court can do. Everyone has to be on board if we're going to save some of these kids.''
08/22/05
Spread thin, Pinellas schools police face daunting task Excerpts: ...For years, the school district's police force has operated without fanfare from the Walter Pownall Service Center in Largo. Officers such as [Barbara] Baugher became accustomed to doing their jobs without attracting much notice. Earlier this month, St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon announced that he wanted his officers out of elementary schools unless students were armed or considered violent. And superintendent Clayton Wilcox told principals they should not call outside law enforcement to discipline elementary students except in dire situations. ...full responsibility for policing the district's 50,000 elementary children falls squarely on the shoulders of the district's 19 officers. Which raises the question: Are they equipped to handle the demand? ..."I think our work load will go up," said Sgt. Richard Roseberry. "There is an expectation by the district that we provide a certain level of service. My concern is that the level of service will diminish." ...Pinellas school Chief Tom Gavin compares school resource officers to specialists within the medical field. Because they understand juvenile issues, they are able to deal with things street officers sometimes cannot. ...Seven of Gavin's 18 officers are on permanent assignment at special education centers and at schools where students are sent for "zero tolerance" violations such as drug or alcohol possession. Several work at nonschool sites such as the administration building, and others work evening shifts at schools that offer night classes. Four officers "float" among the district's 82 elementary schools. Gavin contracts with other law enforcement agencies, including the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, for school resource officers for the district's middle and high schools. All school resource officers, whether they work for Gavin or for another law enforcement agency, devote a large portion of their day to getting to know kids. They greet buses, make morning announcements and hang out in the cafeteria. They often are the ones children come to with issues they would not bring to another adult. ..."If two kids are shoving each other in the lunch line, school administrators would probably handle that," Gavin said. "If a kid pulls a knife, that's something an officer would be called for." ..."You're always going to put officers in the high schools and middle schools first, but if you're going to be proactive, you have to look at the elementary schools," said Palm Beach school police Chief Jim Kelly. "That's where you can get to know the kids and get them help." ..."A school resource officer does more than police work," Baugher said. "We are teachers. We are liaisons between schools and other law enforcement. Bottom line, we have to enforce the laws and make decisions about what will be best for everyone." Officers in the district's reassignment schools and special education centers also have challenges. About 80 percent of the middle school children that Officer Dave Harrison works with at Safety Harbor Secondary School have been arrested for crimes such as arson and drug possession. "By the time I get them, they're already on court-ordered home detention," Harrison said. "The biggest challenge is to try to connect with them on a personal level." ..."You have to have the ability to listen to a child tell you where to go, how to get there and what to do when you get there and still look at that child the next day and say, 'Good morning, how are you?' " [Roseberry] said. "If you can't do that, this is not the job for you." That ability is what makes Pinellas County Schools Police unique, said Chief Gavin. "Yeah, we're small. We don't try to run with the big dogs. But we're very good at what we do," he said. "Other law enforcement agencies have to provide a plethora of services to the community. We can focus our training on juvenile issues and school crime issues..." STUDENT ARRESTS Pinellas County school student arrests during the first semester of the 2004-05 school year ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS - 7: Offenses included battery, defiance and disorderly conduct MIDDLE SCHOOLS - 244: Offenses included aggravated assault, battery, lewd and lascivious behavior, drugs, concealed weapon and violation of probation HIGH SCHOOLS - 398: Offenses included battery on a School Board employee, loitering and prowling, criminal mischief, vandalism and sexual battery
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