A recent Marshall Project article details the new Youth Interactions Policy developed with the assistance of the Schubert Center for Child Studies for the Cleveland Police Department. The nine-page document, which requires that officers consider factors like the perceived age, physical build and emotional state of anyone under 18 before using force, will be rolled out in the coming months after police develop a training curriculum, police officials said.
Cleveland is one of the few communities with a policy focused specifically on youth, which is a critical step towards making changes in police behavior and protecting children. In the article, Kayla Griffin, assistant secretary of the NAACP, acknowledges that there is some skepticism in the community, but explained that the goal of the new youth policy is “to put as many protections in place as possible until something turns and there will be a drastic reimagination of how we do policing in our communities.”