Post by WaTcHeR on Jun 22, 2006 10:41:49 GMT -5
06.22.2006 - BROOKSVILLE - Sheriff's deputies violated department policies when they interrogated and arrested three minors at Fox Chapel Middle School in January before trying to contact their parents, a Hernando County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said Wednesday.
"We're going to take every measure to make sure this doesn't happen again," said spokeswoman Donna Black. "They'll be disciplined. At the very least, they'll get a letter of counseling."
That admission followed a Tuesday report in the St. Petersburg Times detailing the Jan. 31 incident, in which three teens - two aged 13, the other 15 - were arrested on felony charges of criminal mischief for drawing their initials, profanities and bicycle tire marks in wet cement at a subdivision construction site.
Under Sheriff's Office policy, officers must "make an effort" to notify parents before questioning juveniles as potential suspects in a crime.
Parents said the boys - 13-year-olds Frank Macchione and Mitchell Thompson and 15-year-old Luis Rosario -- readily admitted their guilt when questioned individually by a sheriff's deputy at the school.
The charges were later reduced to misdemeanor status.
But their families have since filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union, charging that officers and school officials didn't adequately protect their sons' rights against self-incrimination, and didn't follow their own guidelines by interrogating the students before notifying either their parents or school administrators.
Black said the interrogations at Fox Chapel were conducted by a new deputy, Dustin Adkins, who did not attempt to notify parents until after the teens had been arrested. She said the department's new school resource officer, Deputy Wendy Tolbert, was present but did not take part in either the interrogations or the arrests.
"The bottom line is we had a new deputy and a new school resource officer, and we found that deputy did not follow our procedures," Black said. She described it as an "isolated incident," but said it would result in mandatory retraining for all officers.
School Board policy requires that principals not only contact parents before a police interrogation takes place on campus, but sit in or designate a staff member to do so.
Neither happened in this case, according to Principal David Schoelles, who said school officials didn't know of the interrogations or arrests until after they'd taken place.
Black disagreed, saying at least one "dean" knew officers were on campus. Deputy Adkins read all three boys their Miranda rights against self-incrimination before taking their statements, she added.
But the ACLU said Tuesday that it found the incident "troubling," saying courts have found that minors do not always understand the consequences of waiving Miranda rights.
At least one Florida appellate court reversed a conviction in which an unaccompanied minor incriminated herself, said Rebecca Steele, director of the organization's Tampa office.
Black said her department was under no obligation to follow School Board policies by allowing administrators to sit in on interrogations.
"But we do try to follow the School Board policy," she added.
Both the Pasco and Citrus county sheriff's departments require that school administrators be present during on-campus interrogations in which students are potential suspects.
Hernando school officials said they didn't have any written records on the Fox Chapel incident and didn't know whether a building administrator might have permitted the interrogations to proceed in violation of School Board policy.
www.sptimes.com/2006/06/22/Hernando/Sheriff_s_Office_admi.shtml
"We're going to take every measure to make sure this doesn't happen again," said spokeswoman Donna Black. "They'll be disciplined. At the very least, they'll get a letter of counseling."
That admission followed a Tuesday report in the St. Petersburg Times detailing the Jan. 31 incident, in which three teens - two aged 13, the other 15 - were arrested on felony charges of criminal mischief for drawing their initials, profanities and bicycle tire marks in wet cement at a subdivision construction site.
Under Sheriff's Office policy, officers must "make an effort" to notify parents before questioning juveniles as potential suspects in a crime.
Parents said the boys - 13-year-olds Frank Macchione and Mitchell Thompson and 15-year-old Luis Rosario -- readily admitted their guilt when questioned individually by a sheriff's deputy at the school.
The charges were later reduced to misdemeanor status.
But their families have since filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union, charging that officers and school officials didn't adequately protect their sons' rights against self-incrimination, and didn't follow their own guidelines by interrogating the students before notifying either their parents or school administrators.
Black said the interrogations at Fox Chapel were conducted by a new deputy, Dustin Adkins, who did not attempt to notify parents until after the teens had been arrested. She said the department's new school resource officer, Deputy Wendy Tolbert, was present but did not take part in either the interrogations or the arrests.
"The bottom line is we had a new deputy and a new school resource officer, and we found that deputy did not follow our procedures," Black said. She described it as an "isolated incident," but said it would result in mandatory retraining for all officers.
School Board policy requires that principals not only contact parents before a police interrogation takes place on campus, but sit in or designate a staff member to do so.
Neither happened in this case, according to Principal David Schoelles, who said school officials didn't know of the interrogations or arrests until after they'd taken place.
Black disagreed, saying at least one "dean" knew officers were on campus. Deputy Adkins read all three boys their Miranda rights against self-incrimination before taking their statements, she added.
But the ACLU said Tuesday that it found the incident "troubling," saying courts have found that minors do not always understand the consequences of waiving Miranda rights.
At least one Florida appellate court reversed a conviction in which an unaccompanied minor incriminated herself, said Rebecca Steele, director of the organization's Tampa office.
Black said her department was under no obligation to follow School Board policies by allowing administrators to sit in on interrogations.
"But we do try to follow the School Board policy," she added.
Both the Pasco and Citrus county sheriff's departments require that school administrators be present during on-campus interrogations in which students are potential suspects.
Hernando school officials said they didn't have any written records on the Fox Chapel incident and didn't know whether a building administrator might have permitted the interrogations to proceed in violation of School Board policy.
www.sptimes.com/2006/06/22/Hernando/Sheriff_s_Office_admi.shtml