34464600.pdf

\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER TITLE ACCREDITATION Children In Need of Services and CALEA 44.2.2.a.b. Dependent Juveniles PRIOR REVISIONS 4/24/06, 5/3/11 PROPONENT UNIT ATTACHMENT: Youth Services Division NUMBER ISSUE DATE REVISION DATE TOTAL PAGES 44.2 07/01/98 11/27/2019 6 I. PURPOSE: This Order establishes guidelines and procedures for the processing of children in need of services, status offenders and dependent juveniles. II. DISCUSSION: The responsibility for participating in and/or supporting the juvenile law enforcement functions shall be shared by all department units and personnel. When dealing with juveniles, members should always make use of the least coercive and most reasonable alternative as long as it is consistent with preserving public safety, order, and individual liberty. III. POLICY: The Gainesville Police Department shall use its resources, acting within the scope of Florida State Statute Chapter 39, to identify, locate, recover, and assist any dependent juvenile or child in need of services. IV. DEFINITIONS: A. Status Offender: Status Offenders are identified as youth who have been detained for behaviors that are not illegal for adults. Examples include truancy, runaways, possession of tobacco and curfew violators. While detained, these youths must be held in a non-secure area of a facility. Youths must be separated from sight or sound of any adult offender. B. Dependent Juvenile: A child who has been found by the court to: 1. Have been abandoned, abused, or neglected by their parents or other custodians, or 2. Have been surrendered to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) or a licensed child-placement agency for the purpose of adoption, or 3. Have been voluntarily placed with a licensed child-caring agency, a licensed child-placing Agency, or DCF, whereupon a performance agreement has expired and the parents have failed to substantially comply with the requirements of the agreement, or\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 4. Have been voluntarily placed with a licensed child-placing agency for the purposes of subsequent adoption and a natural parent has signed a consent, or 5. Be at substantial risk of imminent abuse or neglect by the parent(s) or the custodian. C. Child in Need of Services: A child for whom there is no pending DCF investigation into an allegation or suspicion of abuse, neglect, or abandonment; no pending referral alleging the child is delinquent; or no current supervision by DCF for adjudication of dependency or delinquency. The child must also be found by the court to: 1. Have persistently run away from the child’s parents or legal custodians despite reasonable efforts of the child, the parents, or the legal guardians, and appropriate agencies to remedy the conditions contributing the behavior, or 2. Be habitually truant from school, while subject to compulsory school attendance, despite reasonable efforts to remedy the situation pursuant to Florida State Statutes and through voluntary participation by the child’s parents or legal custodians and by the child in family mediation services offered by DCF, or 3. Have persistently disobeyed the reasonable and lawful demands of the child’s parents or legal custodians, and found to be beyond the parents’/custodians’ control despite efforts by the child’s parents or legal custodians and appropriate agencies to remedy the conditions contributing to the behavior. D. Interface Youth Shelter: Youth aged 10-17 who are runaways, experiencing homelessness, truant, or not getting along with their family or guardians at home stay at shelters, usually for 3-5 weeks at a time. While there, they participate in a social skills development program and counseling while also maintaining their routine of attending school. E. Secure detention – an area where a youth’s egress is limited or prohibited by mechanical or structural features. Examples include but are not limited to: 1. A holding cell, whether the door is open or closed. 2. A locked room or area. 3. An area where there are features that are used to restrict a person’s movement, such as a cuffing bench or bar. 4. A room or area of a building where youth cannot exit of their own accord, 2\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 5. Such as where a key-card is needed or a person must “buzz” them in. 6. Within a building that does not allow egress or contains a fence around a secure perimeter. D. Truant Child: A child who is absent from school without a valid reason and who is under the age of seventeen (17). The following are NOT required to attend school: 1. A student who attains the age of 16 years during the school year is not required to attend school beyond their sixteenth (16th) birthday IF the student files a formal declaration of intent to terminate school enrollment with the Alachua County School Board. 2. School-age students who hold valid certificates of exemption that have been issued by the superintendent are exempt from attending school. A certificate of exemption shall cease to be valid at the end of the school year in which it was issued. V. PROCEDURES: A. Children in Need of Services: 1. Taking Into Custody: A child in need of services may be taken into custody: i When a law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe the child has run away from his/her parents, guardian, or other legal custodian; or ii A law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe the child is absent from school without authorization, for the purpose of delivering the child without unreasonable delay to the school system; or iii Pursuant to an order of the circuit court based upon sworn testimony before or after a petition is filed. 2. Transportation: When Department members transport children in need of services NOT charged with any criminal violations, the member may conduct a pat down or frisk of the truant for weapons or contraband, if supported by observations of circumstances giving rise to a reasonable suspicion the juvenile may be armed. The circumstances (observation, knowledge of criminal history, gang affiliation, etc.) that lead an officer to have reasonable suspicion that the juvenile may be armed shall be documented in the Incident/Investigation Report. 3\n\n--- Page 4 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT i. Please note this limitation does not apply if the juvenile is also being arrested for any criminal violations, in which case they may be searched incident to arrest. ii. Physical restraints may be used as needed for officer safety, but should only be used as a last resort. 3. Releasing: The person taking a child in need of services into custody shall: i. Release the child to a parent, guardian, legal custodian, or responsible adult relative; ii. The child may be released to a DCF approved runaway shelter if the member taking the child into custody has reasonable grounds to believe the child has run away from a parent, guardian, or legal custodian; iii. Deliver the child without unreasonable delay to the school system; or iv. Deliver the child to a DCF intake officer, state the facts by reason of which the child was taken into custody and provide sufficient information to establish probable cause that the child is from a family in need of services. B. Dependent Children: 1. Taking Into Custody: A child alleged to be dependent may be taken into custody under the following circumstances: i. Pursuant to an order of the circuit court, based upon sworn testimony, issued either before or after a petition is filed; or ii. By a law enforcement officer, or an authorized agent of DCF, if there are reasonable grounds to believe the child has been abandoned, abused, or neglected, is suffering from illness or injury, or is in immediate danger from his surroundings and the removal of the child is necessary for protection; or iii. By an authorized agent of DCF who has reasonable grounds to believe the custodian of a child under protective supervisio