Two boot camps
close; one left
Less than six months
after Martin Lee Anderson's death at a juvenile boot
camp, two more camps are closing down, leaving just
one in the state.
BY MARC CAPUTO
Jun. 30, 2006
TALLAHASSEE
- One day before the Martin Lee Anderson
Act's tough reforms take effect, two Florida
sheriffs unexpectedly announced they're closing
their boot camps today, saying the Legislature set
too many expensive requirements while giving them
too little to pay for them.
The decision by the
Pinellas and Manatee county sheriffs means Florida
will only have one boot camp -- in Polk County --
from the five that were running on Jan. 5, the day
14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson was beaten by guards
at a Panama City boot camp and died hours later.
Martin's death, still
under investigation, led to the closure of the Bay
County camp in Panama City and the creation by the
Legislature of the Martin Lee Anderson Act. The act,
which goes into effect Saturday, renames the camps
STAR academies and calls for more medical care,
better-trained staff and a ban on nonmedical use of
chemical agents, such as the ammonia capsules
implicated in Martin's death.
Manatee Sheriff
Charlie Wells chafed at a few of the requirements --
such as giving kids instant access to an abuse hot
line -- but said the deal-breaker came earlier this
month when his staff determined the reforms would
leave him more than $1.5 million in the hole.
''The boy's death was
tragedy. But a net was thrown over all the boot
camps and they were dragged in the boat,'' Wells
said. ``It's a darn shame that this has to end.''
''There were two or
three legislators who grandstanded and
show-boated,'' he said. ``So this doesn't surprise
me this happened. This [law] wasn't rationally
discussed or debated. There was a lot of knee-jerk
reaction.''
One of the lawmakers
who first pushed for the reforms was state Sen.
Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat. She said Wells
is scapegoating the Legislature and never gave an
accurate picture of what he needed.
''Some of these
sheriffs probably took this personally. They resent
the fact we took boot camps out,'' said Wilson, who
expressed dissatisfaction that no one has been
charged in Martin's death.
''I'm glad the camps
are closing,'' she said. ``I think they all need to
be phased out because the system they were sired
under fostered a culture of violence and defiance.''
The Manatee camp --
the first of its kind in the state -- and the Panama
City facility were the two worst-performing, with
about half of the kids committing crimes a year
after graduation. Wells said he stopped admitting
kids shortly after Martin's death and decided not to
renew his contract with the Department of Juvenile
Justice this week.
By contrast, Martin
County's camp had the lowest re-offender rate and
emphasized more after-care and counseling. But
Martin Sheriff Bob Crowder publicly and privately
told lawmakers that they weren't spending enough on
the program. As promised, Crowder closed the camp
when his last kids graduated June 9.
Nine days before
that, Gov. Jeb Bush signed the Martin Lee Anderson
Act and hailed its reforms as well as its increase
in spending, from $81 per offender per day to $100.
He dismissed Crowder's criticism about money. ''The
other sheriffs,'' Bush said, ``believe that it's
more than adequate.''
Pinellas Sheriff Jim
Coats said his staff realized this month that the
camp would need $1.2 million more after reviewing
the law -- and the 30-page policy-laden contract
drafted by DJJ. The last kid from his camp will be
taken elsewhere by DJJ today.
''It comes down to a
business decision: Is it worth it for us to
participate? And the answer, when we looked at it,
was no,'' Coats said. He wanted $3.6 million, but
the state Legislature earmarked only $2.4 million.
Coats said he tried
to negotiate with DJJ for the $3.6 million. Agency
chief Anthony Schembri, he said, ``was pretty clear.
He said his hands were tied. End of story. So there
wasn't much room to negotiate.''
Coats acknowledges he
should have added up the numbers sooner and made a
stronger push for money when the Legislature was
considering its budget. He said he also didn't
realize that the rate for after-care counseling was
about 25 percent lower than he'd need.
Only Polk Sheriff
Grady Judd said he'll sign the contract, while
``holding my nose.''
''What occurred with
Martin Lee Anderson was tragic. And as a result, the
Legislature has micromanaged the program in law,''
Judd said. ``And I understand that because they have
an obligation to respond to the crisis. Then, on top
of the Legislature, we've got a 30-something-page
juvenile-justice contract. . . .
``The children will
be better for our anguish.''
