Legislators, Police Back Bill to Regulate Boot Camps

California State Senator Carol Liu and Assemblymember Anthony Portantino were joined by Pasadena Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez and Pasadena Unified Superintendent Jon Gundry at a press conference Tuesday afternoon urging passage of State Bill 1089 which would put restrictions and regulations on Youth Boot Camps.

Prompted by the circulation of graphic videos on You Tube and other sites, Liu and Portantino co-sponsored a law that would provide oversight to companies that conduct military-style boot camps for troubled youth.

The videos showed boot camp faculty dressed in military garb screaming commands at children and verbally forcing them to drink water until they vomited. Liu said the bill is intended to prevent child abuse in boot camps in California.

“After seeing a very disturbing video of kids being mistreated at a boot camp in Pasadena, Assemblyman Portantino and I discovered a small number of boot camps here in California were operating without licenses,” Liu said. “This puts vulnerable kids and their families at risk. These families entrusted boot camps with their children to provide a learning environment to build self-esteem and discipline. Instead, we have seen that, without proper oversight, kids have been subjected to traumatic experiences that threaten their mental and physical health.”

“SB 1089 requires organizations that provide aggressive military-style behavioral treatment services to have all components of their programs accredited by independent accrediting organizations approved by the department of social services here in California,” said Liu. “This bill has received unanimous support from the legislature.”

Assemblyman Portantino also spoke, saying he joined Senator Liu in sponsoring passage of the bill because he wanted to bring accountability to an unregulated industry. He added that he was concerned about “for-profit” businesses that sell their services to with parents who are seeking help for their children.

“I am the father of two daughters,” Portantino began. “How could I not want someone else’s child, son or daughter, to be in a safe environment when they go out, especially when they are receiving the ‘tough love’ program of a boot camp? It is often challenging and exhausting when dealing with troubled children when their difficulties are emotional, behavioral or related to substance abuse. Many parents turn to ‘tough love’ and strong discipline.”

“However, these military-style boot camps sometimes cross the line and anybody who saw the videos of little kids being forced to carry huge tires, being forced ingest water and have someone scream at them ‘drink more, drink more,’ would be outraged by those images,” Portantino continued. “The idea is that if you scream at a child, it’s discipline and they would fall in line. I think that’s a short-sighted method.”

Portantino went on to say that thousands of teen boot camps have sprung up around the country in the last few decades, but that their tactics need some oversight. He added that, currently, there are no regulations, federal or state, to deal with them. He said the bill was needed to ensure the safety and well-being of the children attending the camps.

“Is there a nurse or medical professional nearby? Or is there a medical de-fribillator nearby? Or even is there a first aid kit handy?” Portantino posed the questions. “All these are not required because there is no current legislation. There’s not even a definition of a teen boot camp. So we need to establish a commonly-recognized set of regulations that ensures that programs are properly licensed and provide a safe environment and that’s what SB 1089 is all about.”

Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez addressed the need for parents to take responsibility rather than wait for legislators to impose limits on companies operating as boot camps. He said it was the parents’ responsibility to make sure their children were in a safe and secure situation.

“The responsibility falls to adults to safeguard our children,” said Sanchez. “While legislation is important, at the end of the day, I would appeal to the parents and guardians, ‘You are the vanguard to ensure your child’s safety. It is you who must research the different programs and ensure they are legitimate, to ensure the faculty with that program are well-trained and well-versed in first aid and emergency response.’”

Videos have just surfaced allegedly showing members of the Los Angeles Police Department yelling at children in a similar situation. Asked whether members of the LAPD would be subject to the same law, Senator Liu responded that “Our bill is limited to ‘for profit’ businesses. Anyone who deals with legitimate juvenile justice problems, we have not included that in the bill.”

Not addressed in detail at the press conference was the current status of the investigation into a local boot camp operator for allegations of kidnapping, child abuse, child endangerment, extortion and other charges. Sanchez said questions of that outcome should be address to the District Attorney Office.