Autopsy findings awaited

Posted on Fri, Feb. 24, 2006

State: No More Roughing Up Kids at Boot Camps

BY MARC CAPUTO and CAROL MARBIN MILLER

TALLAHASSEE - The state's juvenile justice agency wants to avoid another boot camp-related death and wants to do away with violent ''pain-compliance'' techniques.

In the aftermath of Martin Anderson's death, which came hours after he was beaten by guards at a juvenile boot camp, state officials want sheriffs to do away with the violent ways of handling kids: No more punches. No more pepper spray. No stun guns.

The Department of Juvenile Justice has told the sheriffs who run the state's five boot camps that the measures will help ensure there will never again be an incident that resembles the videotaped beating of the 14-year-old at the Bay Boot Camp by a scrum of kneeing and punching military-style drill instructors.

Among the measures DJJ wants:

• Ban the punching, kneeing, wrist-twisting and pressure-point-pushing on non-violent kids, and prohibit the use of ''electronic devices'' like stun guns and the use of ''chemical agents,'' such as mace-like pepper spray.

• Have a nurse present when youths exercise, and give him or her the authority to halt it and call 911 with no obstructions.

• Give each youth an EKG heart-stress test, a complete physical and drug test.

• Ensure cameras and defibrillators are readily available.

Some of the sheriffs, such as Polk County's Grady Judd, say the measures are good. But Judd said his guards don't use the violent techniques, and added that some of the measures the state wants, such as new equipment, will require extra money, which the Legislature must approve. Boot camp experts, as well as lawmakers who have scrutinized DJJ-related deaths, liked what little they heard, but still had criticisms.

''These sound like good things. The question is: Where have they been all this time? A lot of those things, I'm shocked they're talking about this late in the game,'' said state Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat who is a former federal prosecutor who helped convict police officers in brutality cases.

DJJ officials refused to discuss the policy changes with The Miami Herald.

Gelber and the rest of his colleagues on the House justice appropriations committee were surprised Thursday when DJJ's number two man, Chris Caballero, refused to say whether boot camp guards were legally allowed to inflict pain on non-threatening children who won't comply with simple commands, such as running laps.

Caballero said he wasn't sure what use-of-force policies applied to which boot camps and when. The camps, which sheriffs run under contract with DJJ, have been allowed to use more-violent means to control kids than other lockups.

While refusing to tell lawmakers about the policy overhaul, Caballero ducked specifics, saying an answer to the pain-infliction question could affect the investigation into Martin's death on Jan. 6. Caballero said use-of-force standards generally forbid the non-medical use of ammonia agents on kids as well as knees to the back -- both of which Martin apparently sustained. He added that pain infliction can be used in some cases, but wouldn't say whether it can be used on kids who are non-violent.

''It's not a yes-or-no answer that's applicable here,'' he said. ``It depends on the situation. If it's appropriate to use hammer strikes [punches] or knee strikes, then it is used. If it's not appropriate then someone is acting outside of the scope of their employment and therefore it's outside the scope of the employment and is breaching the curriculum and their training.''

Caballero would not say what's ''appropriate,'' saying such a definition was ''in the standards'' -- referring to the state's voluminous Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement group that develops guidelines for law enforcement officers.

But the training commission standards may not apply to most of the guards at Florida's juvenile boot camps.

Caballero said all the guards involved in the incident were certified under the ''defense tactics component'' of the training, in which they learned their training from one certified law enforcement officer at the camp.

FDLE spokesman Tom Berlinger said the training commission's standards on use of force and restraint techniques apply only to sworn law enforcement or corrections officers. Most of the boot camp guards are civilian ``drill instructors.''

The American Correctional Association, which develops voluntary standards for U.S. prison and juvenile justice agencies, allows for the use of physical force ``only as a last resort.''

The standard for boot camps, according to ACA deputy executive director Jeff Washington, ``restricts the use of physical force to incidences of justified self-defense, protection of others, protection of property, prevention of escape and to maintain or regain control.''

Doris Layton MacKenzie, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Maryland who has studied almost 50 juvenile boot camps and wrote a book on the subject, called the use of pain as a discipline technique ``unacceptable in a juvenile facility.''

''I don't know of any state that allows the use of physical pain on children who are not hurting themselves or others in order to gain compliance with physical exercise,'' MacKenzie said Thursday. ``There is no reason to do that, particularly when you've got non-violent juveniles in these programs.''

Sheriff Grady Judd agrees. He said many of the policies DJJ has discussed with him are already in place at his camp. Most weren't at Bay Boot Camp. Still, Judd said, ``We believe using pain only to protect ourselves or others from harm. Otherwise, it doesn't work, even if administered for the best-trained officers.''

The state splits the cost of running the camps with local governments, but Judd said ''I'm already running in the red.'' He said Gov. Jeb Bush's office called him late Thursday to reiterate its support for boot camps. But Judd wants to see more money out of the Legislature. Though Judd runs one of the better boot camp programs in the state, Martin County's boot camp has the best record of graduating kids who don't re-offend.

Martin's camp is about to shut down for lack of money, according to its sheriff.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen has decided to close the Panama City boot camp, which he runs under contract with DJJ, in the aftermath of Martin's death.

Martin's family said the changes were long overdue, but aren't enough for them.

''We want justice,'' Gina Jones, Martin's mother, said.

Added her lawyer, Benjamin Crump: ``It's ironic, we can change an entire justice system and the rules faster than the sheriff and FDLE can hold accountable the people who caused his death. No one's arrested. No one lost their jobs.''

Officially, Martin's cause of death was complications from a genetic blood disorder. Medical examiner Charles Siebert, who performed Martin's autopsy, said blood tests prove it, and that Martin's body didn't appear beaten.

The family says it's a cover-up.

They also have said the camp was a politically sacred cow because it was founded by Bay's former sheriff, Guy Tunnell, whom Bush appointed chief of the FDLE in 2003. Bush appointed McKeithen to replace Tunnell. The FDLE investigated the Martin case, despite protests of a conflict of interest. Tunnell has promised a fair investigation.

Before announcing he'd close the Panama City camp, McKeithen said he banned the use of ammonia agents, which are supposed to be used to revive kids. In the tape showing Martin's manhandling, guards appear to shove the ammonia repeatedly in his face.

Shauna Manning, the mother of a 14-year-old boy who said he witnessed the incident at the bootcamp, said her son told her the guards used the tablets all the time to instill discipline -- and fear.

''They're real sick. They get pleasure out of torturing children,'' Manning said.

Caballero suggested to the legislative committee that the use of ammonia agents in that fashion wasn't permitted for guards.

''Ammonia is not considered a part of their training and their curriculum. Therefore, it can only be used for medical purposes,'' Caballero said. ``It's not part of their everyday behavior modification program as it relates to this particular training program with which this staff is certified.''

State Rep. Gus Barreiro, a Miami Beach Republican who has spearheaded efforts in recent years to protect children in DJJ lockups, said agency officials typically fight attempts to reign in the agency's authority to punish children as it sees fit.

''They get all kinds of warnings that there is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, and they don't act upon them until after the fact,'' Barreiro said. ``Then, when the bomb goes off, they sit back and say, `Jeez, what could we have done?'

``That's the part that's really frustrating for us.''