MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Joined by Manatee County Civil Rights leaders, a team of lawyers representing the family of 12-year-old JaQuyla Jones are now threatening legal action. They also want school and law enforcement staff involved to be fired.
Jones is the Manatee County special-education student at the center of a school resource officer's body cam video that shows a September incident inside a Palm View K-8 classroom.
Lawyers claim the school district and law enforcement went too far when they handcuffed and arrested the girl. The family also stated that the dialogue in the body cam video, which was released last month, calls into question the actions and intentions of the school's principal and staff, proving the school resource officer was heavy-handed in handling the incident.
"I am pissed. I am mad because of the way they treated my daughter and my 12-year-old daughter and how they were talking about how they wanted to kick her out from the school. Like, I don't know what she did for them to target her like they did," said Cecelia Jones.
The girl had been recording cell phone video of a fight that she wasn't even involved in. Before the deputy got to the scene with the body cam video, the interaction appeared to have started deteriorating after Jones refused to delete the video when school officials directed her to do so. The lawyers in their notice of intent, which was sent to the school district and the sheriff's office, argued that the student's civil rights were violated.
The body cam video showed shoving and the student being pushed to the ground and handcuffed by the officer. The family wondered why their daughter appeared to be singled out even though she was not part of the fight.
"She is not in the fight, was not a part of the fight in anyway and the school was aware of that even before they intervened in the fight. Yet, for some unreasonable, asinine reason, and instead of focusing more on the two kids who were fighting, the administration and the educators as well as the police turned their actions and targeted the innocent bystander, " said Rawsi Williams, attorney for JaQuyla Jones.
"Because JaQuyla had recorded this fight, they decided that they would come in and traumatize this kid and they falsely told her that she committed a felony for recording a fight," Williams said. "We heard the principal in the body cam video saying she wanted JaQuyla off her campus. For some reason, she wanted JayQuyla off her campus more than the two students who were fighting."
Lawyers added that several state and federal civil rights and child protection laws were broken, and law enforcement had no probable cause to arrest and charge the student.
"You have a grown man actually taunting a child, using profanity in her presence. I think that was some of the most horrendous and gut-wrenching parts of this entire episode," said attorney Frank Allen.
Lawyers have 60 days to file the lawsuit depending on the response or action related to their notice of intent.
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office released the following statement about the incident:
Often our School Resource Officers are tasked with having to step-in to handle incidents on campus when it is suspected that a student has committed a crime. In this case, the SRO, at the request of the school principle and other staff, responded to a disturbance involving a fight between students. In an attempt to determine this student's involvement in the incident, the SRO approached the student and tried to speak with her about the situation. She attempted to leave the area and pushed the SRO's arm out of the way, battering the deputy. She was eventually taken into an empty classroom where the SRO attempted to calm her down and determine what happened.
Staff members told the SRO they believed the student had recorded video of the fight with her cell phone. School staff members wanted the deputy to assist them in getting the phone from the student before she had the opportunity to post it to social media.
"Initially, the School Resource Officer was going by what the principal and staff were telling him. He was not sure at this point what they were talking about, but they kept referring to the phone and a recording they wanted from the phone. The deputy was trying to preserve that evidence that the school wanted and not something that we wanted as a law enforcement agency. He was just trying to get her to stop messing with the phone so he asked her to take her hands out of her pocket," said Sheriff Wells.
In the process of dealing with the student, the deputy was again pushed by the student repeatedly, and a staff member was also pushed. The deputy, having a responsibility to protect everyone involved, restrained the student.
"He took great care trying not to hurt her as she was struggling," Sheriff Wells said.
The school resource officer reported the incident to his chain of command, and the incident was reviewed. No violation in policy was noted in the use of force demonstrated by the deputy.
"We're not there to enforce school rules, our SROs are on campus to prevent crime and investigate crime, but not get unnecessarily involved with disciplinary issues between students, parents and staff. We have no basis to take action on such policies," Sheriff Wells said.
This student was not arrested because of violation of a school policy, but rather the battery she committed on the deputy and staff member. Our goal continues to be centered around providing security for our schools, which involves preventing crime, and investigating crime.
The School District of Manatee County also released the following statement:
The School District has carefully reviewed the actions that took place at Palm View K-8 School on September 22, 2021. The District believes that the ultimate outcome of those events did not have to occur as it unfolded.
Towards that end, Superintendent Cynthia Saunders facilitated a meeting between representatives of the School District and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office to review the video of events that transpired at Palm View K-8 on September 22nd to discuss protocols, expectations and ideas for handling similar situations in the future. One of the key aspects of those talks included defining the difference between school disciplinary matters that should be handled primarily by school administrators, and legal or criminal acts that require the active involvement of sworn law enforcement officers.
Both agencies are working together to make sure the results of those conversations are shared with School Resource Officers, School Guardians and School Administrators to ensure that procedures and protocols are in place and practiced in such a way as to protect the safety and security of all students and staff at all times.
In addition, yesterday, Wednesday, January 5, 2022, during a School District In-Service day for professional development, all principals took part in a training session to specifically examine and review procedures and protocols related to student disciplinary matters and how and when law enforcement plays a role in those matters.
Issues of safety and security for all students and staff are the preeminent priority for the School District of Manatee County and we remain committed to the ongoing assessment, education and advancement towards achieving those ends.
The School District of Manatee County is limited in its ability to respond further due to student privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).