Imagine police coming to school, interrogating a student and taking him to juvenile detention without involving the principal or the student's parents
. A St. Petersburg Times investigation found that it happens, in violation of Florida and federal law.
The
Times reports:
Often police question juvenile suspects first, and leave the Miranda
warning for later. In some cases they question kids at school and take
them to jail without notifying the principal. Or they interrogate them
as suspects before trying to notify their parents, in violation of
state law.
Even when police don't cut legal corners, experts
say the push to station officers in most middle and high schools has
brought a raft of unintended consequences: blurred roles, unclear legal
authority and a sharp increase in school arrests for minor infractions
that could be handled out of court.
Principals, the last line
of defense for kids jeopardized by police misconduct, rarely challenge
resource officers or other police who enter school to interrogate
students.
And children are saddled with criminal records that can follow them for a lifetime.
What's the policy in your school, and the law in your state, for questioning or detaining students who are suspects in a crime? Talk to your school resource officer to find out.
Times reporter Thomas Marshall recommends an ACLU article on the "School to Prison Pipeline" and offers these tips for reporting the story:
Every school board in the region has online policy manuals, and sometimes codes of student conduct, that spell out district policies on student interrogations under different circumstances. They are often modeled under
Florida statutes, which can be searched by keyword.
Talk to students who have been questioned and hear their stories. Give your principal, the police and your resource officer a chance to respond. Look for public records at your school or at the police department to help you with your research.
-- Wendy Wallace
