Arrested over a book bag?
On October 27, 2017, a 15-year-old student at Daphne High School in Alabama got into trouble at school because she passed a book-bag to another student against the wishes of her teacher.
According to the father of the student, the school suspended her (on-campus suspension, or “OCS”) for a week, as punishment for disobeying the teacher.
A week later, on November 3, 2017 – the last day of the student’s suspension – the on-duty Resource Officer at Daphne High School, Officer Kayl, notified the student that she would be under arrest, and told her that they could go to the Police station from the school, or that he could arrest her at her home.
The father explained that at approximately 4:00pm CST, Daphne Police arrested his daughter at home, put her in the back of a police car and took her to the Daphne Police Station, where they fingerprinted her like a criminal.
The student’s parents were allowed to pick her up approximately 2 hours later.
Disorderly behavior?
In an email to the father, the Principal of Daphne High School said, “this was a Daphne PD decision. They act separately from the school, do their own investigation, and make a determination about consequences on their side. Officer Kayl determined that [student’s] behavior was disorderly and that her actions endangered others in the classroom, including the substitute teacher.”
According to the father of the student, “when we asked the police, they said she was arrested for disorderly conduct because she passed a book bag to another student when the substitute teacher told her not to.” The father explained, “there were no drugs, no guns, no weapons, nobody got hurt, no injuries. It was just a book bag that she gave to another student when the teacher told her not to do it. I agree she should have gotten suspension for not listening to the teacher, but I never heard of the Police arresting a child for passing a book bag to another student, and arresting her a week after it happened, and after she already spent a week in suspension too. It makes no sense.”
Sealed records, even from the parents.
Since the arrest, Daphne Police have refused to give the parents of the student the full and official record regarding the arrest of their daughter. According to the father, “they [Daphne Police Department] told me that they won’t give us the official records.” He explained that he had requested the records from them multiple times.
Baldwin County NAACP President, Alec Barnett, who represents the family, said, “when we met with them [Daphne Police Department] to get the reports, they would not give it to us. They told us that she [the student] had been arrested for passing a book bag to another student, but they wouldn’t tell us anything else, and they wouldn’t give us any official reports.”
Captain Judson Beedy of the Daphne Police Department confirmed that the minor was arrested one week after the actual incident occurred, but would not discuss the details of the arrest any further.
Captain Beedy claims that, “they [parents] were given information.” However, according to the parents, neither themselves, nor their lawyer or NAACP representative have received official or complete documentation of the arrest. Presumably, the “information” that Captain Beedy is referring to is a verbal exchange of information between police officers and the parents, and not official police and arrest reports/records, which the parents have been vigorously seeking to obtain.
“The parents actually can’t even obtain copies of those reports”
When Daphne Police Records Administrator, Samantha Cooper, was asked about how the parents might obtain the police reports regarding their daughter, Ms. Cooper responded, “the parents actually can’t even obtain copies of those reports.”
Cooper went on to say, “the actual report, no, they cannot obtain it,” and, “no they cannot get the report”. Ms. Cooper then referred to “Alabama State Law” as the reason why Daphne Police would not release the arrest records of a minor to the parents of that minor.
“No, they [parents] cannot get the report.”
Samantha Cooper, Records Administrator (Daphne Police Department)
Regarding the arrest record being released to parents, Captain Beedy initially said, “yeah we can release it [arrest records] to the parents.” However, after he contacted his records department, Captain Beedy corrected himself, “I contacted my records division, I was incorrect and she corrected me, now, I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I have so much going on that I don’t know the records laws front and back off the top of my head, but she did inform me that we cannot just release that information to the parents.”
Did you read the law before you referenced it?
As an explanation for why Daphne Police Department would not release official records to the parents, Captain Beady said, “I refer you to Alabama law Section 12-15-133 and Section 12-15-134.”
However, despite Daphne Police referencing these laws as a reason ‘not’ to give the parents the records, according to Alabama law Section 12-15-133 and Section 12-15-134, it appears that the parents are in fact entitled to those records.
Section 12-15-133 – FILING AND INSPECTION OF RECORDS
(c) Subject to applicable federal law, the records, reports, and information described in subsection (a) shall be open to inspection and copying only by the following, under the specified circumstances:
(3) The parent (except when parental rights have been terminated), the legal guardian of the child, and the legal custodian of the child.
Section 12-15-134 – MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS
(b) Law enforcement records and files described in subsection (a) shall be open to inspection and copying by the following:
(6) The parent, except when parental rights have been terminated, or legal guardian of the child and the child’s attorney and guardian ad litem.
Therefore, it would appear that Daphne Police Department is violating the very state laws that they are referencing.
Daphne residents weigh-in…
Some residents feel like this is a matter of race, and are not surprised by the suspicious circumstances surrounding the arrest of a black minor, the subsequent lack of transparency from the Daphne Police Department, and the run-around that the parents have gotten with regard to obtaining official records.
One Daphne resident who spoke to IPJ on the condition of anonymity, out of fear of retaliation by the police, said, “they’re sabotaging a young black girl’s life because she disobeyed the teacher. It’s sabotaging her life. They would never do this kind of thing to a white student, but when a black student does something wrong at school, the punishment doesn’t ever fit the offense. If it was a white student, they would have never been arrested for such a ridiculous thing.”
Another Daphne resident said, “when a white student does something wrong, they get a slap on the wrist, but if a black student does the same thing, they will get ten times the punishment that the white student got. The arrest of [15-year-old student] for disobeying the teacher is a perfect example of that. This kind of inequality happens in Baldwin County every day.”
Where things stand.
As of this publication, according to the parents, neither themselves, nor their lawyer or their NAACP representative have received official or complete documentation of the arrest.
Since the student’s arrest, she has been kicked-off the softball team at her school, and will potentially have a juvenile record related to the arrest, which could affect her life and future in countless ways.
It is unclear to the parents exactly why their daughter was arrested on November 3rd, because the Daphne Police Department is refusing to release official records to them.
Members of the black community in Daphne and across Baldwin County are outraged. Those residents attribute the arrest of the 15-year-old black student to a “culture of discrimination and inequality” that is deeply rooted in the Baldwin County education system, as well as the local law enforcement.
It is also unclear to the parents why (if their daughter committed a crime) the police waited an entire week to arrest her.
According to the Daphne Police Department, they can arrest a minor and do not have to give the parents official records, citing Alabama State laws (12-15-133 & 12-15-134). However, those laws (referenced by the Daphne Police department) specifically outline a parent’s rights to those records.
Therefore, it would appear that Daphne Police Department is violating Alabama State laws (12-15-133 & 12-15-134) by not providing the parents access to their own daughter’s records.
UPDATE: A recent report by IPJ indicates that a black child is 3 times more likely than a white child to get arrested by Daphne Police Department – Read that exclusive report here.
Obviously there’s a problem there. It’s highly unusual that an officer would wait for a week to arrest someone, especially if they are able to arrest them at any time, but purposefully waiting for a certain date. I wonder how they explain that one.
All yall racists know who you are. dont play like you don’t know who you are.
This article is on point. Why are they playing around about giving the documentation to the legal guardians of the child? Something happened at school, they arrest her a week later… Seems to me like the parents deserve an official (written) explanation. They asked for it too, and they aren’t getting it?!!