Local News
Cuffed
continued from page 1
“Challenging People to Shape
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B ERNIE F OSTER
Founder/Publisher
B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
Executive Editor
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News Editor
H ELEN S ILVIS
Multimedia Editor
D AVID K IDD
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M ONICA J. F OSTER
Seattle Office Coordinator
J ULIE K EEFE
S USAN F RIED
Photographers
charged with a crime.
In Florida, the use of police in
schools came up several years ago
when officers arrested a kinder-
gartner who threw a tantrum dur-
ing a jelly bean-counting contest.
A bill was proposed this year to
restrict police from arresting kids
for misdemeanors or other acts
that do not pose serious safety
threats.
In Connecticut, court officials
began tracking student arrests
after becoming concerned about
referrals for minor offenses. Since
last March, nearly 1,700 students
were arrested, almost two-thirds
of them for breach of peace,
minor fights and disorderly con-
duct.
In Texas, a December report
from the nonprofit Texas Apple-
seed, a public interest group, says
more than 275,000 non-traffic
tickets are issued to juveniles
each year. While it is unclear how
many are written at school, the
group says the vast majority are
for offenses most commonly
linked to incidents like disrupting
the class and disorderly conduct.
Texas Sen. John Whitmire said
educators and police need to bet-
ter distinguish between who they
are afraid of and who they are
mad at.
“If you are afraid of someone
because they bring a gun or drugs,
of course we come down hard,”
Whitmire said. “It’s the kids that
just make you mad that you don’t
need to make a crime.”
In Albuquerque, which started
tracking arrests after noticing
more minor cases coming from
schools, more than 900 of the dis-
trict’s 90,000 students were
referred to the criminal justice
system in the 2009-2010 school
year. Of those, more than 500
were handcuffed, arrested and
brought to juvenile detention,
officials said. More than 200 were
arrested for minor offenses,
including disorderly conduct.
gate” and to allow O’Connell to
care for his daughter, Spokane
Police Chief Scott Stephens told
reporters.
Officers are required to keep
their weapons secure, Stephens
said. Spokane police-issued hand-
guns are either .40- or .45-caliber,
but The Spokesman-Review
reported it was not immediately
clear what type O’Connell had.
Sheriff’s officers began their
investigation Sunday, Chamberlin
said, adding “it’s hard to deter-
mine how long it will take.”
The officer has been decorated
multiple times and was honored in
2007 when he and a fellow officer
rescued a man with a gunshot
wound from an apartment build-
ing. But he also has a history of
internal affairs investigations,
police officials said Tuesday.
Stephens did not provide details
of any internal investigations but
told The Spokesman-Review
there was nothing similar to the
nature of the current investigation.
DeRuwe did not immediately
return a call from the AP.
In the other recent shootings,
prosecutors have said the mother
of 3-year-old Julio Segura-McIn-
tosh left him unrestrained March
14 in a car in Tacoma after she
placed a pistol under the driver’s
seat. The boy fatally shot himself
in the head when the woman went
to get food.
The mother, Jahnisha McIntosh,
23, and her boyfriend, Eric Vita,
22, have both pleaded not guilty
to second-degree manslaughter
charges.
On Feb. 22, an 8-year-old girl
was critically wounded by a gun
that went off in a classmate’s
backpack in a Bremerton school.
The girl, Amina Kocer-Bow-
man, was released April 3 from a
Seattle hospital. The 9-year-old
boy who brought the gun to
school has written her an apology
letter as part of the sentence he
received when he pleaded guilty
to misdemeanor charges stem-
ming from the shooting.
The Kitsap County prosecutor
has charged that boy’s mother and
her boyfriend with felony assault.
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Guns
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in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
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continued from page 1
in seven weeks in Washington
state and the second involving a
law enforcement officer’s child.
On March 10, the 7-year-old
daughter of a Marysville police
officer was killed when her broth-
er found a gun in the family car. A
Snohomish County sheriff’s probe
into that shooting, involving Offi-
cer Derek Carlile’s daughter
Jenna, is “still an open investiga-
tion,” sheriff’s Lt. Brent Speyer
said Tuesday.
Jenna Carlile was shot with a
gun belonging to the officer, but it
wasn’t his duty weapon, authori-
ties have said.
Spokane police waited until
Tuesday to announce the shooting
to allow the sheriff’s office to
“have an opportunity to investi-
© 2011 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED.
REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART
WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED.
C
and jurisdiction. Some youngsters
are charged with felonies. Some
are freed without further incident.
Others receive tickets.
In Milledgeville, Ga., a city of
18,000 some 90 miles from
Atlanta, Salecia Johnson was
accused of tearing items off the
walls and throwing books and
toys in an outburst Friday at
Creekside Elementary. Police said
she also threw a small shelf that
struck the principal in the leg, and
jumped on a paper shredder and
tried to break a glass frame.
Police didn’t say what set off
the tantrum. Baldwin County
(Ga.) schools Superintendent
Geneva Braziel called the stu-
dent’s behavior “violent and dis-
ruptive” and said the police were
needed to keep the student, other
classmates and the school staff
safe.
Salecia was handcuffed and
taken away in a patrol car to the
police station, where she was
taken to a squad room and given a
soda, police said. She won’t be
spect, disinterest and kids who
basically don’t care,” Bernstein
said.
Experts and educators point to a
number of factors that lead to the
arrests: Some officers are operat-
ing without special training.
School administrators are desper-
ate to get the attention of unin-
volved
parents.
And
overwhelmed
teachers
are
unaware that calling in the police
to defuse a situation could lead to
serious criminal charges.
“I have had some concern for a
while that the schools have relied
a little too heavily on police offi-
cers to handle disciplinary prob-
lems,” said Darrel Stephens, a
former Charlotte, N.C., police
chief and executive director of the
Major Cities Chiefs Association.
There is little national data to
back those assertions; no numbers
are tracked nationally on how
often police are called in to arrest
students. Whether the children are
actually charged and saddled with
criminal records varies by case
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A
R
S EATTLE 2012
Friday – Sunday April 27 – 29
Friday April 20
If you have an event you want to share
with the community, email it two weeks
in advance to The Skanner at
info@theskanner.com
JULIA ALVAREZ READS DROM A WEDDING IN HAITIT
AT THE SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY: Author Julia Alvarez
will read and share photos from her new novel, A
Wedding in Haiti. 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Central
Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, Level 1, Free for all to
enjoy.
BOOK ON OVER TO WARREN G. MAGNUSON PARK
FOR THE MINI BOOK SALE: Approximately 25,000
items will be up for sale to the public at bargain
prices. Friday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. –
4 p.m. Sunday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. 7400 Sand Point
Way N.E. Building 30 Workshop.
Saturday April 28
Thursday April 19
SHOETIME: BEN GUEST (USA 2011) DOCUMENTARY:
The friendship of four young black women from
rural Mississippi trying to win a basketball state
championship. General admission is $8.00, Youth
and Seniors $5.00. 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Langston
Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S.
For more info call 206-684-4758.
Page 2 The Seattle Skanner April 18, 2012
Saturday April 21
32ND ANNUAL CARKEEK PARK EARTH DAY
CELEBRATION: This is a one-time 3 ½ hour
volunteer event. There will be activities for all to
enjoy. Donuts and coffee will be served to all
who volunteer. 8:30 a.m.- Noon Carkeek Park
Environmental Learning Center, 950 Carkeek Park
Rd.
GLENDALE LUTHERAN CRAFT AND PLANT SALE: Arts
& Crafts, variety of indoor and outdoor plants
and planters, lots of unique gift items. Free
admission, noon – 5 p.m. 13544 2nd Ave. SW.
FREE GUIDED TOURS OF KUBOTA GARDEN: Learn
about the history and features of this unusual
Japanese American Garden. 10 a.m. – 11:30
a.m. Kubota Garden, 9817 55th Ave. S.