Local leaders in support of Child-Sensitive Arrest Bill

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Child-Sensitive Arrest Bill on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk looks to address the trauma children endure when they witness a parent being arrested.

While many in the region have their own way to handle these cases, the bill aims to make the process more uniform statewide.

“It's a way to safeguard children when there's an arrest of their parent or custodian and to ensure that we minimize the trauma," said Erie County Sheriff John Garcia. "Because we have a great deal of impact during an arrest to minimize the trauma that a child experiences during that. (As) you could imagine, it's very traumatic."

The bill looks to address the trauma that kids may experience when they see a parent in handcuffs. It's a situation that Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia is familiar with from his experience on the job.

“I look back when I was a rookie officer in the mid-90s and I wound up at a domestic (situation) in a house on Christmas night and I had to make an arrest that unfortunately got physical, and you've got kids in the house. That has always, to this day, left an impact on me -- and not a good one,” said Gramaglia.

If the bill is signed into law, it will provide law enforcement across the state with clear guidelines, tools and training.

Gramaglia said the Buffalo Police Department has worked with the Osborne Association, a nonprofit that supports families of criminals, since 2021.

“It provides an accounting of when there are children present," Gramaglia said. "We made that a mandatory field on our police report system where you have to check yes or no, and you have to get into a little bit more of the details of it."

Garcia said that Erie County began this type of training earlier this year, and that it's already paying off. Just this month, deputies assisted two children, a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old, whose parents were arrested.

"The training consisted of not only what to do each step of the way, but also how to communicate with children depending on their developmental stage," Garcia said.

“The training really puts it in the back of our mindset that, hey, there's kids here," Gramaglia said. "Let's do everything in our power to really make this as less traumatic for the children as possible."

There will also be guidelines if a parent lies about having children.

“They don't want to, at times, get their child taken away, lose custody of the child, get another charge of endangering the welfare of a child," Garcia said. "There are times where they don't tell the truth about the child. So it’s for us to take that extra step and just be cognizant of the fact that there might be a child out there that expects a parent to pick them up, to maybe get dropped off at the bus stop, and there's nobody there. (If) the child's at school, go notify the school officials."

WIVB News 4 has reached out to Gov. Hochul’s office for comment but has not heard back. The deadline for her to sign the bill is Monday.

“This is a way for us and child welfare services to work better together to take care of the kids,” Garcia said.