WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. -- The Worcester County Sheriff's Office has a new operating procedure. It will involve handcuffing a student in extreme cases.
Students under the age of 10 will not be handcuffed. Students ages 10-12 could be arrested for violent crimes or possessing a firearm. Students ages 13-17 could be arrested for the previously mentioned violent crimes, or for serious misdemeanors like threats of mass violence, sexual offenses, threats of arson and violations of a protective order.
In most cases, Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli said a misbehavior would just result in a referral to Juvenile Justice, not a custodial arrest.
Worcester County Public Schools and the Worcester County Sheriff's Office will work together to make sure these new methods are handled responsibly. WCPS said its staff will handle about 95% of incidents. For the other 5%, which would include the crimes listed above, a school resource officer would step in.
The focus here, however, will be making sure students are not targeted disproportionately or traumatized if a behavior warrants an arrest. The goal is holding students accountable, something Rebecca Smith, a parent with three kids in the WCPS system said she is on board with.
"It's better than a slap on the wrist and 'don't do it again' because they're not going to learn their lesson," said Smith.
Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli said an arrest would be made in private, outside of specific circumstances.
"If it's a very volatile manner, then those deputies are going to have to get handcuffs and get them[students] removed from the situation for their safety and for the safety of the other students involved," said Crisafulli.
Crisafulli added this is not an attempt to scare kids or embarrass them.
"It's not just a matter of taking them out or doing the referral and saying our hands are washed of it, no," said Crisafulli. "Part of this process is to encompass the resources along with that custodial arrest or that juvenile referral."
Resources could include calling the Worcester County Health Department or Social Services to root out the cause of any issue that may arise with a student.
"If a minor were to get 'quote on quote' arrested within the school, the focus is going to be on what type of resources can we get for this child," said Crisafulli. "Because there is something that occurred to cause this outburst or cause this criminal behavior."
Annette Wallace, Chief Safety Officer and Academic Officer for grades 9-12, said the school system does have concern with students being arrested and the detrimental effect it could have. But, Wallace added the schools and sheriff's office have a good working relationship and it will be up to both parties to make sure all incidents in the future are handled with care.
"As a school system, we're going to make sure that we have all the supports in place to not only support the student but support the family," said Wallace.
Wallace said arrests as well as bad behavior in schools can negatively impact students, so it will be necessary to tread lightly with this matter.
"It's really looking at the big picture of it all and making sure that we have a good balance and making sure that we're using arrests as a last resort, not a first resort," said Wallace.
Circling back to providing resources for students who misbehave, Wallace said the key here will be understanding the function of the behavior and understanding what consequences work for which kids.