Polk County
Gives the Boot to Juvenile Boot Camp
June 19, 2006
By STEVE NEWBORN
 BARTOW
(2006-06-19) For the "students" at the Polk County Sheriff's
Training and Respect facility, after the get out of regular school,
going to their rooms to study comes with a whole new set of rules.
SOUND: Sir! Yes, Sir! followed by sound of doors slamming.
There's no TV, no radio, no hanging out with friends. Polk County
Sergeant Alvin Mitchell:
SGT. MITCHELL: They start doing ironing uniforms, polishing boots,
study hall periods where they start their homework. Also they'll
probably get into making some phone calls at home, working on some
of their journal issues, some of their therapy issues, some issues
that that they've been having at home, family issues, you name it.
These teens have been busted for a variety of offenses, including
dealing cocaine, methamphetamine or packing a pistol during a
holdup.
But this isn't boot camp. The state's juvenile offender program fell
out of favor after the death of Martin Lee Anderson. He died at the
age of 14 after being beaten by guards at the Panama City boot camp.
Governor Bush recently signed a bill doing away with the camps, and
replacing them with STAR, or the Sheriff's Training and Respect
program.
It's a softer, gentler version of the old system. The new law is
supposed to have safeguards, including bans on certain types of
restraints and the use of ammonia tablets. It also emphasizes
counseling and aftercare over shouting.
SOUND: Water in outside fish tank.
The camp includes a garden, nursery, greenhouse and aquaculture
farm.
Eighteen-year-old Odell works in the camp's fish tanks, filled with
carp and perch.
ODELL: Here, we have a hydroponics tank. And the fish waste from
here, it fertilizers the plants, and we make cuttings from the
greenhouse, the shade house, it's like a cycle, and we just keep it
going.
REPORTER: Did you ever do anything like this before you were
incarcerated? ODELL: Sir, no sir. Despite me being incarcerated Sir,
I'm proud to be a part of this, sir. This is like a one-in-a-million
place where we get to do things like this. After I finish this in
September, I have a certificate that I know about water quality. I
can go anywhere - like Sea World - anywhere that water quality is
involved in.
REPORTER: How come you're here?
ODELL: Selling cocaine and possession of a firearm at age 16-17. And
I was once in the county jail. And I look at this as another chance.
Because I could be in prison, you know?
There are only four camps remaining in the state. They're in
Manatee, Pinellas, Martin, and the largest, here in Polk County.
Polk is in the process of transitioning to STAR, and Sheriff Grady
Judd says it's not just the same old boot camp with a new name. He
says the boot camp component is only 20 percent of their program.
JUDD: Eighty percent was education, religious component,
socialization components, psychological components, one-on-one
therapy. And quite frankly, we had to make very few changes to make
our boot camp program into a STAR program, because it was a holistic
program, looking at the entire offender.
Judd says he would have had to shut down the camp by July 1, if
state lawmakers had not increased funding by 20 percent for the
remaining boot camps. He credits State Representative Joe Negron of
Stuart, who chairs the House appropriations committee. Negron toured
the facility last week.
NEGRON: I didn't want to eliminate all the boot camp programs - as
some were calling for - because they're turning around kids. You
don't wind up at a boot camp because for the first time you took
something out of a store. These are kids who have repeatedly failed
to follow the rules, have little respect for authority... so I think
the new STAR academies are going to be an important part of giving
young people an opportunity to turn their lives around.
Negron says it's too early to tell if the STAR transition has
worked.
NEGRON: I think we have set out clear procedures in statute that say
this is what you can do, this is what you can't do. And everyone's
agreed that this is appropriate. And that is what we tried to do. If
those are followed , that will prevent future abuses.
When asked if he's noticed any differences in STAR from the old boot
camp, one sixteen-year-old named Ivory said "not really. " But he
said "no," when asked if he thought the fate of Martin Lee Anderson
could be repeated here.
IVORY: The way the staff are here, it's different. They try to work
with you on your issues, on your problems, if you're having
depression problems or anger problems, they sit you down and they
talk to you. They counsel you. It's not like they're forcing you to
do the program. They work with you through the program at every
phase, and that's how the cadets become more comfortable talking to
the staff about their issues.
Fourteen students graduated from the program last week. Sheriff Judd
says it's likely that at least 60 percent of them never see the
inside of a jail again.
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