Miami Child In Handcuffs Brings Policy Change

MIAMI, FL — Following the backlash over images of a seven-year-old boy being placed in handcuffs, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools on Saturday unveiled changes to the district policy that dictates when teachers and other school staff can call police to deal with emotionally troubled students. The new policy also makes it easier for school staff to contact healthcare workers in such situations.

"School administration/school staff school administrators must exhaust all means at their disposal prior to requesting law enforcement intervention," the policy states. "Such measures include, but are not limited to, contact and referral to the Student Services Crisis Management Team."

In recent weeks, a young child from Coral Way K-8 Center was taken away from the facility in handcuffs as his mother watched in horror. She tried to calm her child in Spanish while shooting cellphone video of the incident that began when her son was disciplined for playing with his food in the cafeteria and escalated into school officials invoking Florida's Baker Act when he allegedly had a physical altercation with the staff member. The Baker Act allows emergency mental health services to be dispensed under an involuntary psychiatric examination.

District spokeswoman Jackie Calzadilla told Patch on Saturday that the new policy will take effect next week. She said that the district's chief of staff, on behalf of the superintendent, requested that Miami-Dade Schools Police conduct a detailed review of procedures regarding use of handcuffs when transporting young students during Baker Act calls.

Police Chief Ian Moffett of the Miami-Dade Schools Police had already directed agency personnel to review and seek the approval of a lieutenant or higher-ranking officer during involuntary Baker Acts in the interim while the new policy was being drafted. That too has become part of the official policy.

"These measures will ensure all options have been exhausted, limiting the transport of younger students and providing appropriate checks and balances," Calzadilla added.

Here are the main provisions of the new policy:

School Administration/School Staff
School administrators must exhaust all means at their disposal prior to requesting law enforcement intervention. Such measures include, but are not limited to, contact and referral to the Student Services Crisis Management Team.

Parent/Guardian/Authorized Adult
MDSPD Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) already mandate that school police officers make every attempt to contact the parent/guardian of a child for assistance when considering Baker Act intervention. This could be expanded further, as permitted by the Baker Act statute, to allow school police officers to contact other authorized adults (such as individuals listed on a student’s emergency contact card) for assistance. In the event that an authorized adult/guardian/parent is unwilling or unable to respond to the school to take custody of the student, a referral to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) can be initiated as required by law, and the officer may initiate an involuntary Baker Act.

Medical Transport Vehicles
When the determination is made to proceed with an involuntary Baker Act, private medical transport services (i.e. American Medical Response or similar private medical vehicle transport services) can be used to transport younger students to the mental health receiving facility. In the case of a formerly violent/combative student (during the crisis) or a combative student, the private medical transport service can transport the student to the nearest mental health receiving facility. This mode of transportation will not require the use of handcuffs as these services utilize less restrictive restraint devices than prescribed by law enforcement.

Command Officer Review/Approval
In instances where a young student is being considered for an involuntary Baker Act by an MDSPD officer, a lieutenant or higher-ranking command staff officer shall be contacted to review the incident. Barring active emergency/exigent circumstances, the high-level approving officer shall explore all options and approve the transportation method of the student to the nearest mental health receiving facility. Additionally, the individual officer’s assessment and actions taken will be documented in an offense incident report.

School Police Officers Trained in Crisis Intervention
MDSPD’s current practice is that police officers certified in the approved Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) handle calls for service that are related to a Baker Act. All newly hired officers will continue to be CIT trained prior to being deployed on their own. Baker Act related cases should be referred to the MDSPD Mental Health Liaison Officer, when feasible and practical, for further coordination with the Division of Student Services.

Transports Not Utilizing Handcuffs
An additional consideration was reviewed in which a situation involving an involuntary and non-violent younger student can be transported without the use of restraints such as handcuffs. The affected student will be accompanied by a school staff member, acting in loco parentis, to the mental health receiving facility. The affected student and school staff member will ride inside the marked police vehicle to the facility in a manner similar to when students are injured during sporting events at schools and staff members accompany them to the hospital. This shall be based on the officer's evaluation of the incident and the command officer’s review and approval of the transportation method along with consideration of the well-being of all involved persons. If all other reasonable methods and/or options have been exhausted, Baker Acts involving active and/or aggressive resistance would require the use of appropriate and approved restraints to protect the youth, staff, officer, and community during transport. The individual officer’s assessment and actions taken will be documented in an offense incident report.

Photo courtesy Miami-Dade County Public Schools