-- A 15-year-old juvenile at a residential treatment center died over the weekend.
It's the same facility where former heavy weight boxing champ Mike Tyson once stayed.
There are many questions surrounding how the teen died. The police and those who run the Tryon Residential Center are being very tight lipped. What we know is that this teen died after fighting with one of the staff members.
“I saw two state troopers going over into Tryon with their Sububrbans,” neighbor Dave Darling said he witnessed Saturday morning.
“A little while later an ambulance went in there and came out with sirens,” he added.
Darling lives right across Tryon in Johnstown.
The Fulton County district attorney says one of the residents was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam on Saturday. That's where he was pronounced dead.
The district attorney says the boy died after he got into an altercation with a staff member at Tryon. It’s not clear if that altercation played a role in the boy's death or what the altercation was about.
Tryon is a secure facility for juvenile delinquents. About 400 employees there are represented by the Civil Service Employee Association. A spokesman for CSEA says a number of their workers have been questioned. He also says CSEA is concerned with how the Tryon facility is operated.
Tryon is run by the office of child and family services. In a statement from OCFS the spokesman says, “We take these matters very seriously. Whenever there is an incident at a residential treatment center a thorough investigation is done. The safety of the residents and staff are of utmost importance."
An autopsy is scheduled Monday at Albany Medical Center.
The district attorney says those results and more information about what was involved with this teen's death will be made known Tuesday.
Tryon Center resident dies over weekend
State police still investigating case
Johnstown - November 20, 2006
By Subrina Dhammi
Groups call for Tryon investigation
By MICHAEL ANICH and JASON SUBIK The Leader-Herald
Thursday, November 30, 2006 — Time: 1:23:21 AM EST
PERTH — Two civil liberties organizations are calling for an independent investigation into Saturday’s death of a 15-year-old Bronx boy who was incarcerated at the Tryon Boys Juvenile Rehabilitation Center.
The not-for-profit New York Civil Liberties Union and the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union are calling for the investigation.
State Sen. Hugh T. Farley, R-Niskayuna, said today more work has to be done in the current state police investigation.
“I think there should be an investigation, but I don’t think the Civil Liberties Union should be involved in it,” Farley said. “I’m very supportive of Tryon ... [The resident’s death] is a tough situation.”
The boy, whose name is not being released by authorities, was pronounced dead Saturday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam after he was transported from Tryon at approximately 9:20 a.m.
Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira said he died following an incident in which he was restrained by Tryon staff.
Sira said the Tryon resident had “become physically aggressive” with staff members at Tryon, at which point they restrained him. After the restraint was over, there was a period when he was breathing normally and able to talk, but began to exhibit signs of distress, she said.
She said the boy’s Bronx family doesn’t want to release his identity, and authorities are following suit.
“They’re not willing to consent to the identity,” Sira said.
Robert Freeman, the executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, said Tuesday the law protects the Office of Children and Family Services’ right to withhold the child’s identity and prohibit Sira or other officials from doing so.
That state office oversees about 50 facilities statewide similar to Tryon.
The district attorney said Dr. Michael Sikirica, the pathologist who performed the autopsy Sunday at the Albany Medical Center, said he probably won’t have more information until early next week.
Sira said Sikirica is waiting for the family to provide the medical history of the boy to him.
“Once we have a cause of death, we’ll be able to release more details,” Sira said.
State police are investigating the case.
The NYCLU, founded in 1951 and serving as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, posted a news release on its Web site Tuesday that called for an investigation.
“The death of a child in one of New York’s juvenile prisons raises major concerns and must prompt a thorough and independent investigation,” the NYCLU and the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a joint statement.
“No child should die in prison,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “This tragic event raises an alarm about what is going on inside the walls of Tryon. The NYCLU and ACLU are seeking further information as to the cause of this child’s death, and we call on the state to initiate an immediate investigation of the facility by an impartial and competent party.”
Lieberman and NYCLU Director of Communications Maggie Graham didn’t immediately return phone calls this morning seeking comment.
Motive questioned
Office of Children and Family Services spokesman Brian Marchetti said today he is not sure what the NYCLU wants at this point. He questioned whether the organization wants to get to the bottom of how a child died or seek headlines.
“I don’t know what they’re asking for,” said Marchetti. “The OCFS severely questions the motives of the ACLU. We’re baffled by them.”
The report documented abuse and neglect of the children in the facility as well as an intensively secretive culture within OCFS, the NYCLU Web site says.
“We are extremely concerned by this child’s death and will closely monitor the agency’s response,” said Mie Lewis, an attorney and the Aryeh Neier Fellow at the ACLU and Human Rights Watch. “This tragic death demonstrates the urgent need for real oversight as a means of ending the abuses at OCFS facilities.”
The ACLU/HRW report documents that staff at Tryon and another OCFS facility frequently use the “face-down restraint” procedure — seizing a child from behind and pushing the child to the floor, then pulling the child’s arms behind him to hold or handcuff him — to punish the child. The children are punished in this way for such minor infractions as improperly making their bed, failing to raise their hand before speaking or failing to move or stand still on command, according to the report.
“Using such violent restraints for minor acts constitutes a disproportionate and excessive use of force,” said Melanie Trimble, director of the NYCLU’s Capital Region Chapter.
The report recommends the creation of an independent office charged with monitoring the treatment of children held in juvenile facilities.
Company critical of state
Meanwhile, the company that trained Office of Children and Family Services employees in the use of restraining techniques criticized the state in the death of the male resident.
Bruce Chapman, the president and founder of Handle with Care, an Ulster County-based crisis intervention and restraint training program company, said his firm trained OCFS in the use of face-down restraining techniques in 1988. He said the agency never used Handle with Care’s annual recertification program or incorporated any of its technique upgrades into OCFS instruction manuals.
“If it turns out that this child died from asphyxiation caused by a misuse of a primary restraining technique, I lay the blame for his death right in the lap of [OCFS Commissioner] John Johnson,” Chapman said.
Chapman said his company owns the copyrights to a patented take-down method, which he claims the state has been using improperly for years as part of what he called a “renegade program.”
Chapman said his face-down, or “prone,” restraint method training manuals have undergone several safety upgrades since his company was originally employed by OCFS. He claims the manuals OCFS use to train employees contain his copyrighted illustrations and information, but do not include the program modifications which emphasize how to retrain an individual without placing weight on the person’s back and chest. He said in some cases, that could cause asphyxiation. He said the “tripod” safeguard modification was always a part of his program, but is now emphasized more clearly with better training techniques than in 1988.
“We offered to give them the upgrades in 1998 for free, but they did not incorporate them into their training manuals,” Chapman said.
Handle with Care Vice President and legal counsel Hilary Adler said her company filed a federal lawsuit against OCFS in 2002 to attempt to stop the agency from using the company’s copyrighted program materials.
“We do not want our company associated in any way with the current mess of a program they administer,” Adler said.
She said Handle with Care is appealing a Sept. 29, 2005, decision by federal court Judge David Hurd, who dismissed the copyright claim. Adler said Hurd was wrong to dismiss the case and claims OCFS is running a dangerous restraint program.
Adler claims OCFS’ restraint policy is unsafe.
“Under this policy, a child’s last words might very well be, ‘I can’t breathe,’” he said.
OCFS spokesman Marchetti said his agency would not comment on any of Chapman’s or Adler’s statements because of the pending litigation with Handle with Care.
PERTH — Authorities stated today the name of the Tryon Boys Juvenile Rehabilitation Center resident who died following an incident at the facility Saturday will continue to be withheld from the public.
Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira said the boy’s identity is protected under New York state executive law.
“This boy was technically a ward of the state and we are prohibited from revealing the fact that he was at Tryon, the reasons he was at Tryon and his identity, even though he is now deceased,” Sira said.
Sira said her office, the counsel for the state Office of Children and Family Services and the New York State inspector general’s office all independently came to the same conclusion that the youth’s identity was protected unless his parents waive that right.
The Office of Children and Family Services oversees juvenile detention facilities such as Tryon.
Robert Freeman, the executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, said the law does protect the Office of Children and Family Services’ right to withhold the child’s identity and prohibit Sira or other officials from doing so.
“But [the law] doesn’t require that [the Office of Children and Family Services] withhold the information. They could disclose it if they choose to do so,” Freeman said. “I don’t think that all or any of the details of this kid’s life should be revealed, but I think the identity of a person who has died should be public.”
Sira said she has not contacted the youth’s family yet and is waiting for family members to complete the burial process before inquiring whether they will agree to releasing his identity. Sira said the boy’s family is from the Bronx.
The cause of the boy’s death has not been disclosed.
Sira said the results of an autopsy performed on the boy’s body cannot be completed until his full medical history is obtained by Dr. Michael Sikirica, who performed the autopsy at Albany Medical Center Hospital on Sunday. Sira said she did not know where the youth’s medical history was being stored.
“A death certificate cannot be issued until a cause of death has been determined,” she said.
Freeman said death certificates are also documents that the government is not required to release.
The 15-year-old was pronounced dead on Saturday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam after he was transported from Tryon at approximately 9:20 a.m. Sira said he died following an incident in which he was restrained by Tryon staff.
“He had become physically aggressive with staff members at Tryon at which point they restrained him. After the restraint was over, there was a period of time when he was breathing normally and able to talk. Then he began to exhibit signs of distress,” Sira said.
The New York State Police are the lead agency conducting the investigation into the boy’s death. State Police Troop G spokeswoman Maureen Tuffey said Sira is handling all media inquiries regarding the investigation.
Office of Children and Family Services spokesman Brian Marchetti said it has been at least 12 years since another resident has died at one of the state’s detention facilities. Marchetti said his agency takes the security and the safety of its residents seriously and that it would be premature to release information about the investigation.
Marchetti said all Tryon staff members are trained in “de-escalation” techniques for crisis situations involving residents. Marchetti said he was uncertain whether there were any specific provisions within his agency’s policies for altering standard de-escalation techniques in light of residents’ medical histories. He said he would research the issue and provide information at a later date.
Marchetti said he is the official spokesman for his agency regarding the issue of the deceased youth, and when asked whether interview access to Tryon Director Lee Wynn would be granted, he said, “That’s not going to happen.”
Jason Subik covers Montgomery County. He can be reached at montco@leaderherald.com.
Defined as placing an individual's body FACE-DOWN ("prone") upon ANY surface (such as the ground, a long back board, an ambulance wheeled stretcher, a bed, or any other surface), and Restrainers physically applying pressure with their HANDS (and/or OTHER BODY PARTS)
to the victim's shoulders, posterior torso ("back"), hips, and/or upper legs – physically preventing the victim from moving out of the PRONE position.
Controversial hold at center of investigation of death of 15-year-old inmate at Tryon Residential Center
By DAN HIGGINS, Staff writer
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Staff members at state facilities for children are still authorized to use a method of restraint banned by two other state agencies that deal with adult inmates and the disabled.
The Office of Children and Family Services on Tuesday confirmed that staff members are taught to place young inmates face down, and to lie across their backs while immobilizing their arms.
Brian Marchetti, a spokesman for the agency, said the method is designed to de-escalate a dangerous situation. "We use the least aggressive method of restraint," he said.
The method of restraint and its aftermath are the focus of a death investigation at Tryon Residential Center for Boys in Perth, Fulton County. A 15-year-old inmate died Saturday, hours after he was restrained by staff members because he had become "physically aggressive."
Officials did not reveal exactly how the youth was restrained in Saturday's incident, but Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira said her office and the State Police are investigating whether Tryon staff members followed proper procedure, and whether the boy's death was related to him being physically restrained. She did say that at some point the boy was placed in a face-down position.
The boy, whose name is being withheld by authorities, had breathing trouble immediately after the restraint was applied, Sira said. He was rushed to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, where he died. The cause of death is still pending the results of an autopsy performed Monday.
The "prone restraint" method came to light after Disability Advocates Inc., a nonprofit representing institutionalized people, requested OCFS's training manual this summer under the Freedom of Information Law. They had planned to ask OCFS to abandon the restraint method, which can restrict the subdued person's breathing, said Cliff Zucker, the group's executive director.
The agency is drafting a letter requesting a meeting with OCFS in light of the inmate's death.
If the Tryon staff members who subdued the boy were following the employee manual, last updated in 2005, the boy was placed onto his stomach while at least one staff member laid across his back, pinning his arms. This "prone restraint" position has the potential to restrict an inmate's breathing, which is why the New York State Office of Mental Health and the state Corrections System bans its use.
In fact, Tryon's own training manual says that "Staff must be aware of their size and weight in relation to the youth and check complaints of ... ability to breath, injury, etc."
The problem, said Zucker, is if someone's air is being choked off while in a restraining hold, they are unable to complain.
"Or they may fight, and fighting for air is misinterpreted as the person further resisting, which makes the restraining applied even harder," he said.
The investigations will determine how the boy was held down, whether procedures were followed, and whether his restraint contributed to his death. If the two events are related, the district attorney would have to decide if a crime was committed, or if the death was accidental.
Marchetti said the method that OCFS staff members used is designed to be used only to defuse a dangerous situation, and is the least aggressive way. While not addressing Saturday's incident directly, he said nearly all claims of excessive force against Tryon staff members -- there are several dozen each year -- are unfounded.
