It was a sweltering Monday night on July 26, with the temperature hovering in the upper 80s more than two hours after sunset, when police say two opposing gang members got into a shootout in an apartment complex where parents and children were settling into bed for the night.
A police affidavit says at about 10:45 p.m., security camera footage shows Tarrell Byrd entered Lakewood Terrace Apartments property on 14th Street at the main entrance and walked toward building F, pointing with his left hand and keeping his right hand in his pocket.
A moment after Byrd walked out of the security camera’s range, a single gunshot is heard. Then police say a second young man — Terrell Franklin — ran through the complex, firing a pistol once before taking cover behind a palm tree. He then pointed the handgun and shot it at least five more times toward Building F, the affidavit reads.
Byrd was hit twice in the leg. He went to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, but wouldn’t cooperate with officers in the emergency room, saying he had been shot during a drive-by shooting at his house on a nearby street.
Third of three articles
LkldNow Senior Reporter Kimberly Moore has spent the past year investigating gang activity and shootings in Lakeland. Moore read hundreds of pages of affidavits, requested and looked through reams of data, and interviewed key leaders in the fight against gangs in Polk County.
Lakeland Police Det. Derek Rivers is assigned to LPD’s Criminal Investigation Section’s Intelligence and Gang Unit. He began sifting through security camera footage and wrote in the affidavit that he saw Franklin firing a weapon six times. Three other subjects ran behind Franklin, with one calling to Franklin using his street name, “La rell give me your gun tighten up.”
Rivers said he was able to immediately identify both Franklin and Byrd because he has had “multiple contacts” with them, including arresting them, during his law enforcement career in Lakeland.
“Terrell Franklin is a documented criminal gang member,” Rivers wrote in an affidavit. “The subject who was shot but uncooperative, Tarrell Byrd, is also a documented criminal gang member. These subjects are in opposing/rival gangs (and) their opposition has been documented in several Lakeland Police reports/incidents. I believe that acts of violence recorded in this incident were made to benefit or further the interest of subjects’ criminal gangs by taking out an opposing member.”
But these were not grown men in a gunfight — Franklin is 17 years old and was a student at Lake Gibson High School. He and Byrd, 16, are both legally labeled as juvenile delinquents in Department of Juvenile Justice documents. Both young men were also on probation for prior criminal acts.
Both were charged with:
- Possession of a firearm by a delinquent, with gang enhancement added.
- Unlawful possession of a firearm by someone under 18 years old.
- Discharging a firearm in a residential area.
- Violation of probation/community control.
Byrd is also charged with carrying a concealed weapon and providing false information to law enforcement. They are awaiting trial.
Uptick in shootings by juveniles
In 2023, Lakeland saw an increase in juveniles charged with some of the most serious crimes possible — ones that could put them behind bars for decades if they are convicted. The year’s shootings mirrored 2014, one of the most violent for gang activity in Lakeland history. That’s when at least a dozen shootings occurred in Lakeland.
Experts say gang involvement and/or drugs are almost always a contributing factor.
The juvenile charges are alarming: attempted murder, firearm possession, shooting into occupied homes or buildings … often with a gang enhancement added.
But their ages are downright shocking. In addition to the suspects in the shooting at Lakewood Terrace Apartments, Lakeland Police or the Polk County Sheriff’s Department have arrested:
- A 19-year-old charged with murder in the shooting last December in the Secret Cove subdivision in East Lakeland of what police said was a rival gang member.
- A 15-year-old charged in February with possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition by a delinquent following his involvement in the January shooting of 11 men on Iowa Avenue in Lakeland.
- A 13-, 14- and 19-year-old charged in May with the attempted murder of a Lakeland Police officer in the Carrington Place Apartments after police say the 13-year-old shot the officer from whom he was running. The trio had also opened fire on a home near Simpson Park a few minutes before.
- And a 14-, 16- and 17-year-old charged in September with the attempted murder of two other juveniles on Saratoga Avenue in Lakeland during a feud over a friendship that had gone sour.
In addition, an 18-year-old is still recovering after being shot in the head as he drove on Kathleen Road during rush hour in September. No arrest has been made yet in that case.
‘Criminal gang member’ identification
In addition to being legally labeled as juvenile delinquents, Franklin and Byrd have been also been legally identified as criminal gang members. According to state statute, there are a number of criteria to be labeled a “criminal gang member,” including two or more of the following:
- Admits to criminal gang membership.
- Is identified as a criminal gang member by a parent or guardian.
- Is identified as a criminal gang member by a documented reliable informant.
- Adopts the style of dress of a criminal gang.
- Adopts the use of a hand sign identified as used by a criminal gang.
- Has a tattoo identified as used by a criminal gang.
- Associates with one or more known criminal gang members.
- Is identified as a criminal gang member by an informant of previously untested reliability and such identification is corroborated by independent information.
- Is identified as a criminal gang member by physical evidence.
- Has been observed in the company of one or more known criminal gang members four or more times.
- Has authored any communication indicating responsibility for the commission of any crime by the criminal gang.
A Florida Department of Juvenile Justice report looked at statistics of gang members and crime. Youth with gang alerts — indicated in their DJJ file — are considerably more likely to reoffend and to be classified as “serious, violent and chronic offenders.” Statistics show:
- Only 4% of youth arrested have any gang alert with 1.4% of youth arrested being documented gang members.
- Yet youth with gang alerts committed 24% of all attempted murder/manslaughter offenses for which an arrest of a juvenile was made.
- Documented gang members committed 3% of all offenses (twice their percentage of the population) and averaged 3.7 arrests each over the two year period.
- The prevalence of being a documented gang member for males is 4.5 times the rate for females.
- Youth with gang alerts are more likely to have past alcohol and drug use.
- More than 30% of those with gang alerts were 12 or under at the age of their first arrest.
- More than 50% of youth with gang alerts had household members with jail or prison history.
“The finding that greater than 50% of the youth with a gang alert have a household history of jail or prison is staggering,” the report’s author, Michael Baglivio, wrote. “It is the norm for these youth to have household members that went to jail/prison, usually a father or mother.”
Balancing intervention and accountability
Following the shooting of 11 men on Iowa Avenue in January, Lakeland Police joined the county’s Gang Task Force, which involves every law enforcement agency in Polk County, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office. Local police officers on the task force have been cross-deputized so they can operate anywhere in the county.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said it is the first time all of these agencies have banded together to fight gang activity taking place in Polk and surrounding areas.
Judd said it is mainly juveniles involved in a lot of these gang shootings.
“Quite frankly, most of this criminal violence is as immature as the as the gang members are.”
polk county sheriff grady judd
“I’m not going to allow kids to shoot kids, and kill kids,” Judd said. “And I explained (to their parents) if I have to keep them locked up in jail to keep them alive, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
He said that while local gangs are organized, most are not sophisticated or at the level of a mafia outfit.
“Quite frankly, most of this criminal violence is as immature as the as the gang members are,” he said, citing petty grievances over not being shown respect, not paying a small drug debt or going out with someone’s girlfriend or ex-girlfriend.
Part of the gang task force’s responsibilities when it comes to juveniles is visiting the homes and families of gang members, suspected gang members and gang associates — people who hang out with known gang members.
“We had a mixed reaction,” Judd said. “Some people closed the door in our face. We actually have parents say, ‘Please, arrest my son because I’d rather him be in jail alive than dead in the street. Somebody will eventually want to kill him.’ … We gave them fair warning that you can either behave, or your family can help you behave, or we will ultimately investigate you and arrest you for whatever we can. Because we don’t want you killing people.”
Judd said eventually their crimes are so bad that they become convicted felons — many while still teenagers.
“These aren’t juveniles with childish acts,” Judd said. “These are hard-core criminals, who happen to be under the age of 18.”
Brian Haas, State Attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit, said juvenile criminals are treated differently than adults because his office tries to intervene to change their lives and the first step in that process is to hold them accountable.
“Usually there’s many levels of diversion and teen court,” Haas said, explaining that teen court involves non-violent juvenile offenders having their case heard by their peers. Both the “prosecutor” and “defense attorneys” are teenagers, although the judge is an adult. It allows the offender to be held accountable, but without a receiving a juvenile record or having to serve time in juvenile detention.
But for juvenile offenders, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. And, he said, he has to think of the rights of innocent residents, as well.
“We deal with kids that are troubled a lot of times and we have to try to address them in a way that we protect the community and we get them on the right track,” Haas said, adding that the gang task force is so important because it can help identify juveniles in gangs or at risk of joining a gang.
“What we can do is do our level best — and I think that we do that — to make sure that the option of the gang involvement is as limited as it possibly can be,” Haas said. “And so if there isn’t a gang to join, you know, that’s a good thing. And that’s why we cracked down.”
‘A place to belong’
Haas explained that kids have to have support, structure and a sense of belonging at home.
”Children need that, you know — they’re going to find a place to belong,” Haas said. “Now we hope they find a place to belong in a church or a Boys and Girls Club or, you know, a positive influence. But we know better than that. A lot of times they’re gonna find a place to belong in a gang, on the streets, where they feel important, they feel needed. Now they’re just being used by the gang leaders, but one of the major problems is the lack of attention in the home.”
Adult gang leaders will often use juveniles to move drugs from one place to another or even sell drugs because they know juveniles will not get in as much trouble as the adults do when caught.
But Haas said there is only so much law enforcement can do. Instead, he said, “It starts with the parents — starts and ends with the parents.”
“If a child is having an interaction with law enforcement, no matter what it is, that’s an indication that there’s a problem. And maybe it’s just a one-time bad night, or they’re with the wrong crowd,” Haas said. “The reality is that every child that comes into the system, we can’t just lock them up and throw away the key. These are 12- and 13-year-old kids that I’d like to think there’s some hope for. But this is much more than just a criminal justice problem. This is a community problem.”
Haas said the solution is for everybody to get on board with a plan for a troubled juvenile.
“The mother, the father, grandmother, grandfather — whoever is responsible for these kids, they’ve got to make it their business to know where they are,” Haas said. “And I know that sounds a lot easier than it is. Kids don’t like to have controls. They’d like to be out, sometimes, running in the streets. But parents have got to do something.”
But, he added, children involved in violent criminal activity have to be punished appropriately.
Officials with The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry said there are many reasons kids join gangs, ranging from “a sense of connection or to define a new sense of who they are. Others are motivated by peer pressure, a need to protect themselves and their family, because a family member also is in a gang, or to make money.”
“If you have a kid that’s messing with guns, and now shooting people or shooting at people, that case is going to be viewed a lot differently than … the first time offender,” Haas said. “When it gets to the point where they’re shooting at people, there’s not much that I’m interested in doing, besides making sure that we’ve got the public protected.
Haas said his office and the Department of Juvenile Justice will work to evaluate whether or not it’s appropriate to charge that child as an adult.
“Which is a big decision, but it’s necessary sometimes,” he said. “And if we feel that that’s required, then then we’ll do that. And then then it gets a lot more serious for that kid, because now they’re looking at potential adult sanctions and long term incarceration.”
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said what is happening in Lakeland is what is also happening nationwide.
“Whereas disagreements and different issues used to be settled with fist fights before social media, before some of these other avenues that they have now, they would handle in school or on the ball fields afterwards,” Taylor said. “Now that’s escalated to the point where it just continues on social media and these different songs that get put out there — disrespecting songs. And now people have a tendency to go and escalate with handguns. I think it’s a little more prevalent than they used to. And I don’t think its just related to juveniles, I think it’s. you know, you see that across society.”
Terrell Franklin
On a Wednesday afternoon in late November, Terrell Franklin, who was charged with the Lakewood Terrace Apartments shootout, was home from school when his mother, Lakendra Robinson, answered a phone call from LkldNow. His mother said Franklin wasn’t feeling well and had an excused absence.
She denied Franklin had anything to do with the August shooting at Lakewood Terrace Apartments — despite what LPD Officer Rivers wrote in his affidavit.
“I was able to immediately visually identify the black male subject with the black puffy hair, wearing the gray jacket, black pants still holding what I believed to be the firearm I observed him shooting earlier as Terrell Franklin. Franklin runs directly in front of the camera and runs his face toward and away from the camera allowing me to see his entire face and even the back of his head,” Ricers wrote. “I have had multiple contacts with Franklin throughout my law enforcement career, I have arrested him and made multiple contacts with him through probation and curfew checks at his residence. Franklin has a unique hairstyle which is short along the front and puffy and curled in the back. He has a slender build and is slightly above average height at 5’09.”
But Robinson insisted Franklin was not there.
“That was not my son — they don’t even have his face. His face is not even on camera,” Robinson said. “Totally someone different with the same haircut. The attorney knows that.”
She also adamantly and repeatedly said he is not in a gang, despite the courts labeling him as such.
“He’s not in a gang. My son is always home. My son is not in a gang,” Robinson said. “Ever since he got out of jail, he don’t hang with no one.”
She said he has gone through one rehabilitation program through the courts, but he finished it. He is no longer at Lake Gibson High School, but is attending another school the district assigned him to. She did not name the school.
“He’s a well, good gentleman,” Robinson said. “I’m trying to raise him to be a man, not a statistic.”
Polk’s district leads state in prosecuting juveniles
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice released a report in June analyzing which circuit courts continued to go forward with prosecution of serious cases involving felonies, firearms and violence.
This report examined referrals, which are similar to an arrest in the adult criminal justice system, that included at least one felony, violent felony, and/or firearm felony to determine whether all charges on the referral were non-filed, meaning no charges were formally filed, or nolle prosequi, meaning after the filing, the State Attorney’s Office decided to no longer pursue the case. It covers the period between November 1, 2021, and October 31, 2022.
DJJ statistics shows that the 10th Judicial Circuit — which covers Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties and is led by Haas — is one of the top in Florida for holding juveniles accountable and not dropping their cases.
Haas and his team have some of the lowest amounts in the state of non-filed or nolle prosequi cases.
“As important as it is to make sure that there’s opportunities for those kids, it’s equally — if not more — important that the children who are committing violent acts are dealt with very aggressively and I think that we do a very good job of that here,” Haas said in a recent interview.
A recent report by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice found that, while some counties regularly drop felony charges against juveniles, that is not the case in our area.
The judicial district that handles Polk County cases had the lowest rate of non-filed or nolle prosequi juvenile felony cases between November 2021 and October 2022, with only 5.7% dropped. Statewide, the average was 22%. The district that handles Orange and Osceola counties had the highest rate of dropped cases at 42%.
A second DJJ report issued in July shows that issuing citations to first-time offenders in misdemeanor cases has a significant impact on preventing repeat offenders. Statewide in 2020-21, 68% of first-time misdemeanants received civil citations. Of those, more than 80% successfully completed their civil citation programs, with only 4% reoffending in a 12-month period.
“This report highlights what research unequivocally demonstrates — that immediate accountability and early intervention in the lives of young people is essential to prevent juvenile crime while enhancing public safety,” said DJJ Secretary Eric Hall. “Taking intentional and responsible actions that help to keep children out of the juvenile justice system safeguards their future by preserving opportunities and empowers them to lead successful lives.”
A National Institute of Justice 2016 report states that the certainty of being caught and punished is more important in deterring crime than the punishment itself.
And the amount of time between the crime and the punishment is also a factor in recidivism. A 2022 study of Florida youth found that among some groups of first-time offenders, including females, lower-risk youth and non-felony youth, “when dispositions are delayed more than 60 days, youth are more likely to be re-arrested within one year than youth with shorter processing times.”
Wesley Dalmas
Wesley Dalmas, 13, is charged with one of the most shocking cases to come out of Lakeland this year. Law enforcement officials say Dalmas got into a gunfight with a Lakeland police officer in May and shot the officer in the foot. The officer shot back and hit Delmas, who is charged with attempted first-degree murder and resisting arrest with violence. Two of his friends were also arrested and charged with the same crimes.
Judd said Dalmas “tried to kill” Lakeland Police Officer Jamie Smith, 30.
Judd said that the three suspects were smoking marijuana and riding around in one of their mother’s car, looking to shoot an “op” – street slang for opposition gang members. In a text message to LkldNow, Judd said that one of the suspects “told us they were looking for anyone to shoot, so that is why they did the drive-by shooting. They were looking to randomly kill somebody.”
Police dash cam and body camera footage show the trio fled to the Carrington Place Apartments in the 1400 block of Kettles Avenue – an area long known for crime. When they reached the apartment complex, they all bailed out of the still-moving car.
Police say Dalmas is clearly seen holding a gun in his right hand as he runs down the sidewalk away from the police car, then back toward it, and finally past it. Smith chased Dalmas and, when the officer rounded the corner of one of the apartment buildings, video from Smith’s body camera shows Dalmas waiting for him, his gun pointed at Smith. Then he shoots. Grass and dirt fly up and Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor said that is when Smith was shot in the foot. Smith can also be seen pulling out and aiming his service weapon. He continued chasing Dalmas and eventually shoots him.
Smith is back on active duty, while Dalmas is awaiting trial, with his next pretrial conference scheduled for March 26.
Judd said Dalmas used a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun in the shooting and that it was most likely stolen during a car burglary. Dalmas’ two co-defendants, Jermaine Julian, 19, and Leonard Speight, Jr., 14, are labeled as known gang members in the criminal justice system, while Dalmas is “a known associate of gang members.”
Judd and Taylor said Dalmas had been expelled from Rochelle School of the Arts for a reason they either didn’t know or couldn’t share. Judd said it was bad enough that law enforcement could have been involved, but the school district chose to do a pre-trial diversion.
State Attorney Haas could only speak in general terms about the case. He noted Dalmas had a prior case and was placed on probation for that first offense.
“Which to a juvenile is actually a pretty serious punishment because it’s a lot of supervision, it’s a lot of restrictions and curfews,” Haas said. “But the next other one would have been some type of commitment to a juvenile facility.
But Haas said that option is no longer being considered. Instead, Dalmas is facing up adult prison “because he’s committed such a terrible act this time.”
Treatment and diversion credited as total arrests decline
Juveniles who completed residential treatment during fiscal year 2020-21, the most recent year for which recidivism results are available, had the lowest recidivism rate in at least the past two decades, at 37%. It fell from a high of 48% in 2015-2016.
“Research has clearly demonstrated that higher risk youth are most effectively rehabilitated in more intensive and restrictive service settings,” a report states.
The recidivism rate for juveniles in all diversion programs was down from 13% in 2010-2011 to 7% in 2020-2021. And for juveniles on probation, their recidivism rate went from 19% to 13% in 2020-2021.
There is more good news.
Statewide, there were 75% fewer juvenile arrests during fiscal year 2021-22 than in fiscal year 2000-01 — from 148,849 to 36,996.
Felony arrests fell 68% during the same 20-year time period, and dispositions to residential commitment fell 84%, from 10,483 during FY 2000-01 to just 1,672 during FY 2021-22.
And since FY 2008-09, the number of youth served in secure detention declined 67%, from 27,677 to 9,164.
This drop in the total number of arrests has occurred despite a growing population of youth in the state. DJJ credits its civil citation program.
“More than 11,000 first-time misdemeanant youth were successfully diverted from arrest during the twelve-month period of December 2021 through November 2022 through DJJ’s civil citation initiative. Civil citation or similar prearrest diversion programs provide an alternative to arrest or formal processing for minor, misdemeanor delinquent acts while ensuring swift and appropriate consequences for youth.”
The utilization rate for civil citation-eligible youth has increased from 26% to 69% since fiscal year 2011-12, and 85% of first-time school-related misdemeanors resulted in a civil citation in fiscal year 2021-22. The 12-month recidivism rate for civil citation completers during FY 2020-21 was a remarkably low 4%.
Those juveniles who are not held accountable pay a higher price later on.
“Youth who are arrested in lieu of being issued a civil citation and subsequently have their cases nonfiled or receive a nolle prosequi outcome are of significant concern,” the report concludes. “These youth have a formal arrest record that can interfere with future opportunities and may be labeled by themselves and others as a ‘delinquent,’ yet do not receive the accountability, assessment, interventions, and treatment that accompany a civil citation or a disposition such as post-arrest diversion or probation.”
The National Institute of Justice paper states that about 2 to 5 % of people are responsible for 50% or more of crimes.
“Locking up these individuals when they are young and early in their criminal careers could be an effective strategy to preventing crime if we could identify who they are,” the report states. “The problem is: we can’t. We have tried to identify the young people most likely to commit crimes in the future, but the science shows we can’t do it effectively. It is important to recognize that many of these individuals who offend at higher rates may already be incarcerated because they put themselves at risk of apprehension so much more frequently than individuals who offend at lower rates.”
While Haas said parents must be involved in their children’s lives to prevent these things from happening, he also knows that some simply don’t know where to turn or what to do to help their child.
“I think a lot, by and large, the parents are a lot of times at their wit’s end,” Haas said. “They don’t know what to do. And sometimes the only thing is the criminal justice system.”
The role of schools
In 2014, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Public Schools applied for and were given a three-year grant to start the Gang Resistance Intervention Program in schools.
“The sole purpose was to basically use a holistic approach with at-risk students to make sure that we give them the opportunity to be successful — students who are at risk for going down the wrong path,” said Lt. Mike Rushing, who supervises the sheriff’s office School Resource Officers in East Polk County.
Rushing said the students are referred to GRIP through a number of avenues: school principals, counselors, parents, people in the community and also the court system.
“We take a look at their circumstances and then we assign them to one of our deputies in the GRIP unit. And they kind of start that mentoring process of trying to make sure that we get them on the right track to be successful — not just in the classroom, but in the community as well,” Rushing said.
Juveniles involved in GRIP have stronger restrictions than a student on regular juvenile probation. These provisions include:
- Change the standard probation curfew to 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. instead of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
- Classroom and school attendance included as a probation condition.
- GRIP deputies help the juvenile’s probation officer monitor probation conditions, which creates a more intensive probation standard.
- Demonstrate the importance of a structured life, making good decisions and constant supervision, which some of the youth do not have from parents/guardians.
- Become more involved in the youth’s life and act as a mentor to help delinquent youth change their lives toward positive behavior and attitude.
- GRIP deputies conduct school visits for each youth.
- Mandatory reporting of interim and report cards.
- GRIP deputies conduct home visits for curfew compliance and obtain updates from parents/guardians.
- Create a one-on-one tracking system by identifying attainable goals.
Rushing said the number of deputies assigned to GRIP has risen from seven deputies when it began to 15 currently, with the increase necessary following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, passed after the school shooting in Parkland. The law requires law enforcement agencies to investigate students who have made threats against their classmates or schools. The Safe Schools office handles those investigations.
Once a student is assigned to GRIP, they are also assigned a GRIP deputy, who reviews their basic information, along with their criminal histories, and comes up with a plan. They then schedule a meeting with the parents and student to cover their expectations. Each GRIP deputy works with about 20 students at any given time.
“You have to be stern with them,” Rushing said. “We we want to build rapport with these kids, but at the same time we have to hold them accountable. Because that’s what some of these kids, they lacked accountability their entire life. And that’s why they continue to go down the wrong path.”
Rushing said the GRIP deputy serves as a one-on-one mentor to the student, checking in with them weekly. They set goals with the students, including attending school, being on time, improving their grades, completing their community service in an area they’re interested, and working toward graduation.
GRIP also works with community partners like the Boys & Girls Clubs, Lakeland Police Athletic League and the Dream Center to help students.
GRIP deputies also work with students who may be considered at-risk and experiencing the following:
- Documented school related problems or educational attainment difficulties including school failure, truancy, suspension, or expulsion.
- Documented negative involvement with law enforcement or the courts.
- And documented concerns regarding the student’s mental health.
Rian Shea, PCPS director of Safe Schools, told the School Board on Dec. 12 that out of the 900 juveniles currently on probation in Polk County, 194 are enrolled in the GRIP program. LkldNow asked Shea if he could facilitate an interview with a student currently in the program, with a promise of anonymity. All seven families he asked declined, saying they were afraid of retaliation from the gangs.
Rushing and Capt. Jill Seymour did discuss one student they’ve recently helped. All students enrolled in GRIP must perform community service. Master Deputy Sheriff Michael Music asked a coach at a Lakeland school to allow a student, who had been arrested for criminal mischief, to help with his team’s equipment. The boy became interested in the sport, began practicing with the other boys and the coach allowed him on the team. His grades improved.
“He was making the A’s and B’s and he just really turned it around,” said Rushing. “And the parent even said that they appreciate us stepping in and guiding their kids, you know, just to the right path and just being so involved.”
In a report to the School Board, Shea wrote: “MDS Music has spoken to (the boy’s) father … who has been ecstatic about MDS Music’s involvement and noted (the boy) had made drastic improvements academically and in their home life.”
Lack of trust is a barrier
But some families either don’t understand the impact these deputies can make, don’t care or simply don’t trust them.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Detective Rob Mateo recently retired as head of the PCSO gang unit and has been president of the Florida Gang Investigators Association and the National Alliance of Gang Investigators Associations. He described his sadness when a parent stopped him from helping her son.
He held an initial meeting with this student several years ago. When they sat down at the boy’s sister’s house to talk, a cockroach crawled on the boy’s pocket. Mateo worked with the young man to make sure he was attending school, getting him an alarm clock to help with that. The boy attended school on time every day for about two weeks.
Then Mateo found out the young man was interested in cooking and knew that Traviss Vocational School has a cooking program. But the young man needed a photo identification card to enroll at Traviss and he needed his birth certificate in order to get the ID.
Mateo explained to the mother what they were trying to do for her son, told her they would take care of everything, including filling out the form, paying for the ID card and taking her son to get it. But they needed the mother’s signature on a form, allowing them to handle the matter.
“Mom refused to sign it because she didn’t trust law enforcement,” Mateo said. “We’re trying to put her son in a position of success. We explained this very clearly to her. We were in full uniform. She knows who we are, but she wouldn’t sign the form — refused to sign because she didn’t trust law enforcement …”
Mateo said two weeks later, the boy was back in juvenile detention.
Rushing said sometimes they have to teach parents how to deal with their children.
“We find ourselves not just mentoring the students or the kids, we’re doing the parents as well,” Rushing said. “We’re trying to coach them up on how to be better parents and to be more involved. If you care as much as you say you do for your child, then you’ve got to make some necessary changes as well. And you’ve got to take a strong look in the mirror and say, Hey, what am I doing wrong? That’s not an easy conversation to have with a 40- or 50-year-old person who has been through the criminal justice system, or who has been a gang member themselves in the past.”
The advice they give is:
- Be involved in your child’s life — take interest in their interests.
- Know where they are at all times.
- Look through their phone texts and apps.
- And review their social media accounts, or keep them off of social media if possible.
Despite the rise in violent gang crimes in Polk, a state report on school safety for the last school year shows only one public or charter school in Polk County that reported gang activity. George Jenkins High School had one gang incident on campus during the 2021-2022 school year, which involved an aggravated battery.
In addition, statistics provided by the GRIP unit, show a dramatic drop in the number of issues they’re handing:
In 2019-2020, the team made 1,648 school visits. In 2022-2023, they made 1,243. The number of “gang associate members” they contacted was 311 in 2019-2020. Last school year, it was 50. They contacted 1,822 at-risk youth in 2019-2020. Last year, that dropped to 695.
Truancy
One issue that many gang members have in common is skipping school. Truancy in general is an issue that Superintendent Fred Heid is battling head on by creating the community outreach facilitator program – more commonly referred to as truancy officers.
In the 2022-2023 school year, Heid hired seven officers, with a starting salary of $39,500. This school year, he has added two more officers and is interviewing for one more position, bringing the total to 10.
The numbers show the program is slowly working.
Last school year, they dealt with 10,486 students with high absences, which has dropped to 2,891 students.
Chronically absent students, those with 10 unexcused absence or more, totaled 16,113 last school year. This year, it has dropped to 11,639.
Habitually absent students, with 15 or more unexcused absences within a 90-day period totaled 6,719 students last school year. This year, it is down to 4,135 students.
The district has about 116,000 students in more than 155 regular public schools.
Sheriff calls for tougher statutes
Judd wants to take a tougher approach to kids involved in gangs, calling on legislators in the upcoming session to change or enhance some state statutes. Highlights of his proposals include:
- Increased penalties for “possession of a firearm” — after the first offense, increase to a felony from a misdemeanor.
- Upon release, judges have to prove the juvenile is not a threat to the public and list all previous adjudication and withheld charges.
- Juvenile must be held in Juvenile Assessment Center until they see a judge.
- If the juvenile is sent to a program, but the program or home is full, they should be housed at JAC until the space is available. Currently, they are sent home into the same environment that got them in trouble in the first place.
- Eliminate post-conviction probation.
- Increase age from 19 years to 21 years for probation if adjudication is withheld.
- And increase electronic monitoring of youth on probation.
Former City Commissioner Phillip Walker, who headed the city’s Gang Task Force between 2014 and 2022, said there is one broad solution that people don’t talk about: restoring, protecting and elevating the traditional family.
“The family unit has been eroded,” Walker said. “We want to see what can we do to help resolve some situations, but what about your family unit? See, when you get a family unit that’s been eroded as they have and you … have situations where there was not a family unit anymore, you’re gonna have some problems … But until we can touch and get our hands wrapped around the family unit, you’re going to continue to have these problems.”
Walker added that he grew up in public housing, one of six children his mother raised. But she instilled in all of them sense that they would accomplish something with their lives.
“It starts at home. It starts at home. It. Starts. At. The. Home,” Walker emphasized. “But if the home is a wreck, then you have reckoning situations as a result. And if I can sit at home, I don’t have to work nowhere. I get a check when it comes in the mail. Or comes to the bank or whatever. And I can go do what I’m gonna do and be okay. There’s no motivation.”
Police Athletic League and after-school programs
One major way officials try to curtail gang involvement is the use of after-school and weekend programs, like the Boys & Girls Club and the Police Athletic League, known as PAL.
PAL offers a variety of programs to teach kids and to keep them out of trouble, including football and cheerleading, archery, and fishing. They also offer mentoring and tutoring. The program serves between 400 and 400 students each year.
Lakeland Police Lt. Joe Parker oversees the department’s PAL program. For the past two years, he has run a two-week summer camp for students to learn construction skills, which he hopes will funnel them into one of Polk County Public Schools’ construction certification programs. He has organized the camps, invited speakers, obtained sponsors and even gotten local restaurants to chip in for lunches for the students and instructors.
But the PAL building on West Second Street has outgrown its usefulness. Parker said PAL is in need of a new building, one that can fit their expanding dream of not just athletics, but activities.
“The way the staff has to shuffle equipment and kids around now makes it quite tedious, labor intensive. We could better efficiently operate if we had a facility designed for our specific vision,” Parker said in a recent interview with Lakeland Vision. “That’s something that I am looking forward to being able to accomplish here in the city. So, you know, I feel like I’ve got support from the city but I need support from the community as well. “
Parker said people wanting to sponsor PAL and donate can reach him at Lakeland Police headquarters.
“If we think about the, the dear cost to the city if we don’t invest in our young people, where are we going to be in the next handful of years?” he asked.
REad the previous articles in this series
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