New York Law Now Requires Police to Treat Children Sensitively When Arresting Their Parents

Linda Ricard was just 6 when she watched her mother’s arrest 20 years ago.

She remembers her mother crying out to Ricard’s older brother, “Take her upstairs!” as police officers roughly forced her into handcuffs. She remembers shouted promises from her mother that she’d call later.

Ricard can also recall the destruction that ensued. Inside the family’s one-bedroom Bronx apartment, the dresser was broken and clothes spilled all over the floor. Her Barbie dollhouse was in pieces, and the police had shattered her glass tea set. She remembers crying as her brother pulled her away from the scene to make sure she didn’t get injured on the broken shards.

“It just felt super, super traumatic — especially at that age,” Ricard said in a recent interview. “I didn’t understand where she went or what exactly happened, but I would ask for her every day.”

In New York, this should never be happening again.

Under a state law that took effect in June, police officers are required to conduct arrests in a way that avoids trauma for any children present, and collaborate with social workers and child advocates to create a temporary plan for their care. To date, there has been no statewide guidance or mandatory police training related to treatment of suspects’ children.

The roughly 530 law enforcement agencies in New York state must now create and implement new “child-sensitive arrests” protocols for police officers that follow a model policy crafted by New York State’s Division of Criminal Justice Services. The state justice department’s 10-page policy directs police officers to research in advance whether any children will be present in the home during an arrest. And depending on the severity of the crime, they must delay the arrest until the child is away at school or day care, or arrange a different place away from children to detain a suspect.

Under the new required protocols, police must make arrangements for the children’s care after a parent is arrested, allow them to comfort their children during the arrest as well as decide which “willing and able” relative or neighbor would be best to step in. Officers then have to conduct a background check of the temporary caregiver’s prior criminal history, or involve CPS if no suitable guardian is available. Chiefs of police must also give their officers a list of community organizations serving children and families that they can contact for post-arrest support for the child, such as mental health and faith-based services.

The Division of Criminal Justice Services’ model policy aligns with Ricard’s experience: “Witnessing the arrest of a child’s parent or guardian … can be a confusing, fearful and an extremely traumatic event for the child,” it states, adding: “Ensuring the child is safeguarded with appropriate care and support for the child’s well-being, safety and stability,” is critical to minimizing the impact.


Some of the larger police departments in New York, including Albany, Westchester and Buffalo, created their own child-sensitive arrest policies before Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the legislation at the end of last year — as did the New York State troopers. The statewide law ensures that all police departments also comply and train their officers. All child-sensitive procedures must be documented, according to the new state policy.

Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox spoke to The Imprint about witnessing traumatic arrests during his three decades in law enforcement — and the importance of children being spared such trauma. That inspired he and his team to draft Albany’s policy in 2014 — the first county in the state to do so.
 

“We recognized we could ultimately harm that child for the rest of their life,” Cox said. “We could also make it to where that child could look to us as an adversary, rather than perhaps want to be a police officer at some point.”
 

Cox said the new law will also improve community relations, by minimizing children’s negative interactions with officers. Fear of police, he said, could put them at risk in the future if they’re reluctant to call 911.
 

New York’s statewide legislation affirms this, stating that “witnessing an arrest can cause anxiety, confusion, anger, sadness, and a myriad of other emotions in children.” 

And because they don’t talk about the experience, “many develop negative associations with law enforcement or figures of authority as a result. This can put them at risk because they may not seek assistance from the police when they feel unsafe or are in danger.”
 

In crafting his policy, Cox collaborated with the Osborne Association — a nonprofit serving incarcerated families that has been lobbying for the change since 2011. The 90-year-old advocacy group was instrumental in drafting the statewide protocols, and worked with the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the U.S. Department of Justice to create guidance for a national policy.
 

Tanya Krupat, vice president of policy and advocacy at the Osborne Association, said these policies are especially critical for non-child-related crimes, such as driving with a suspended license or shoplifting.
 

“Most police departments do not provide training on child development or adverse childhood experiences,” Krupat said. “It’s very important that there’s specific protocols because the children can kind of get lost in the mix.”

She added that the new policies will also help law enforcement.
 

“It’s really not fair to police officers who interact with many children and young people that they don’t receive training,” Krupat said. “They really need and deserve to have the information in these tools.”
 

Between 22 and 41% of children nationwide who had an incarcerated parent or were the subject of a CPS case were present during a parent’s arrest, the University of Wisconsin-Madison estimated in its 2021 policy brief. Currently, no accurate numbers exist on how many children in New York have been impacted.


The new safeguards would have been invaluable for Bronx resident Ricard, now 26 years old and a youth producer for “Echoes of Incarceration,” a documentary project that chronicles the stories of young people who have experienced the criminal justice system. The law makes her “feel complete,” after years of advocating for change — particularly for kids in Black and brown communities and others who are too often overlooked, she said.
 

In her case, her mother’s arrest was the beginning of a very tough few months in Ricard’s young life. She said she had no informed adult or therapist in her life to explain what was going on.

During her mother’s long, confusing absence, Ricard often stayed home alone while her 20-year-old brother worked long hours, struggling to afford three meals a day for the two of them. She worried he too would disappear one day. And she gradually came to believe that her mother — who missed her elementary school graduation while in jail — was never coming home. Eventually, she did.
 

The new law that better equips New York police officers, Ricard added, “gives a child a chance to be able to say goodbye to their parents — to make sure that they have somewhere to go and they have the resources that are needed.”

Read the article in its original format here.