Juvenile justice staff fired over boy's injury JUSTIN CALDWE

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Juvenile justice staff fired over boy's injury

By Stephen D. Price
news-press.com capital bureau
Originally posted on April 14, 2007
The News Press, FL
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20070414/NEWS01/704140700/1075

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Walt
McNeil Friday fired the acting superintendent and a juvenile justice
officer at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna after an
investigation into abuse of a youth.

McNeil said the action was a call for a "change of culture" at the
school.

"There are systemic operational problems at our Dozier facility that
span the chain of command from top to bottom," said McNeil.

The incident occurred Feb. 11. Justin Caldwell, an 18-year-old at the
school, is charged as an adult with battery in an attack an officer
at Dozier School that day.

Later that day, McNeil said in an unrelated incident, Caldwell
accused juvenile justice residential officer Alvin Speights of
choking him, causing him to hit his head on a table that knocked him
unconscious. That incident was caught on a security camera, but
McNeil said the faces of other youths not involved had to be obscured
before it could be released to the media.

The tape was given to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and
could be released early next week, he said.

Last year, DJJ came under fire for delaying release of footage of 14-
year-old Martin Lee Anderson being beaten by guards at the Bay County
juvenile boot camp. After being sued by the media, the department
eventually released the tape. Anderson died the day after the
incident in Bay County and eight employees of the boot camp have
pleaded innocent to charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child.

In the Marianna case, Caldwell has been charged as an adult with
battery on staff and is being held in the Jackson County Jail. He had
been at Dozier for two years on larceny charges.

Speights was in the process of being fired Friday and charges against
him are pending in the ongoing investigation, McNeil said.

Also, in response to the investigation, John Tallon, regional
residential services administrator and acting Dozier superintendent,
was fired Thursday.

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State employees fired after teen knocked out

The Associated Press
April 14. 2007 6:01AM
Gainesville Sun, FL
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20070414/LOCAL/704140355/-1/news

TALLAHASSEE - Two Department of Juvenile Justice employees will be
fired after an ongoing investigation revealed the use of
inappropriate force that knocked an 18-year-old resident unconscious
at a Marianna facility, department Secretary Walt McNeil said Friday.

The investigation into the incident has made it clear that the Arthur
G. Dozier School for Boys has widespread deficiencies, McNeil said.
The department has made management changes and hired an independent
consulting firm to oversee the facility, which is a high-risk
residence currently housing 162 boys from 14 to 21.

"We recognize that there are systemic operational problems at our
Dozier facility that span the chain of command from top to bottom,''
McNeil said. "It is clear that we have to act decisively to change
the culture of our Dozier facility.''

On Feb. 11, resident Justin Caldwell was choked and thrown to the
floor by Alvin Speights, a residential officer at the Dozier school,
McNeil said. On the way down, Caldwell hit his head on a table and
was knocked unconscious.

Speights was in the process of being fired Friday, and Dozier's
acting superintendent, John Tallon, was fired Thursday, McNeil said.

Caldwell had assaulted a different officer earlier in the day, but
McNeil could not say whether Speights' actions were in retaliation
for that incident because the investigation is ongoing. Other firings
could come after the completion of the investigation.

Caldwell is currently in jail in Jackson County as a result of the
earlier incident, McNeil said.

Among the changes that will take place, the department's assistant
secretary of residential services will temporarily move his office to
the facility to supervise daily operations, McNeil said. Community
Trust, a Tallahassee-based consulting firm specializing in juvenile
justice facility management, will also oversee daily operations, and
its chief executive will become acting superintendent.

Also, the facility's 200 employees will be trained in verbal
intervention techniques to replace physical actions against youth who
are misbehaving.

McNeil said Friday's announcement was an effort to be transparent
about problems at the department.

The department came under scrutiny after 14-year-old Martin Lee
Anderson died in January 2006, a day after being roughed up by guards
at a Panama City boot camp. The Florida Legislature dismantled the
military-style boot camps during last year's legislative session.