Charles Kinsey Shooting Archives

North Miami Police Have “No Specific Policies” For Dealing With People With Disabilities, FOIA Request Finds

By Rich Robinson

A public records request from RISE NEWS has found that the North Miami police department does not any “specific policies” in terms of how its officers interact with people with disabilities, including autism.

We first requested the information on July 25th and were emailed the findings today.

The request was prompted by the police shooting of unarmed therapist Charles Kinsey three times in the leg in a North Miami street.

The officer who shot Kinsey, Jonathan Aledda was apparently aiming at Kinsey’s autistic patient according to the Miami-Dade police union president.

The shooting made national headlines and brought the issue of racial bias and violence against disabled people into the fore.

In responding to our request of any and all policies and procedures that the North Miami police department may have in dealing with people with disabilities, Major Franzia Brea said that “There are no specific policies regarding this topic.”

You can see for yourself:

Screen Shot 2016-08-02 at 1.31.33 PM

While this new disclosure underscores the fact that North Miami has no specific policies dealing with people with disabilities, that doesn’t mean that their officers aren’t familiar with the issue.

North Miami police spokeswoman Natalie Buissereth told RISE NEWS that roughly 85% to 95% of North Miami officers have received Crisis Intervention Team Policing training (CIT).

CIT is often cited by police departments as a top local training method for officers to learn how to deal with people with mental illnesses.

Of course mental illness and developmental disability are two different things.

The CIT training only includes a small section (one page) about Autism and other developmental disabilities.

North Miami Police Officer Jonathan Aledda.

While the CIT training may be lacking, at least it is something.

But it is not at all clear that Aledda even received CIT training.

His personnel jacket does not include information regarding the training.

“If you don’t see it, it’s not there,” Buissereth said of Aledda’s missing CIT training certificate in his personnel jacket.

While much of the focus of the shooting has rightly been focused on Charles Kinsey, perhaps we should start asking why our police officers aren’t being properly trained on how to deescalate situations with people who have disabilities.

Do you have a news tip about excessive police force involving people with disabilities? Send us a news tip to [email protected]

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.

Meet The 18 Year Old Who Is Leading Black Lives Matter Miami

By Rich Robinson

Miami is not known as a politically active city. Civic engagement is not exactly our strong suit.

But with issues regarding racial injustice and police brutality highlighted in the news lately, even sleepy Miami is starting to wake up.

At the forefront of that social awakening is an unlikely figure- an 18-year-old girl named Emmanuella Enemor, who just graduated from high school a few months ago.

Enemor is one of the main driving forces behind Black Lives Matter Miami.

We first met her at a rally she helped organize in front of the North Miami police station.

The event was not heavily attended, maybe a few dozen, but it sent a message to local authorities that people were not going to forget about the shooting of Charles Kinsey.

Emmanuella Enemor, the recent high school graduate at the heart of Black Lives Matter Miami.

“We want to see that this guy doesn’t come back to us,” Enemor said of the officer who shot Kinsey, an unarmed black therapist who was shot three times when he tried to talk his autistic patient out of the middle of a North Miami street. “It might be a stretch that we want him convicted but at the very least, we don’t want him working here.”

Enemor lives in the southern portion of Miami-Dade County but has been rapt on the news coming out of North Miami.

“I see the things happening and it doesn’t sit well with me,” Enemor, a graduate of Ronald Reagan High School in Doral said. “I’m black so it’s a problem that affects me directly.”

Enemor said that she felt limited as to what she could do in terms of advocacy in high school but now has a new outlook.

She’ll be attending Howard University in the fall, but in the meantime she is working to get Miami more engaged in matters of racial injustice.

She has been involved in organizing rallies and marches in Miami and in coordinating efforts online.

“We’re just trying to start passion and heart here in Miami,” Enemor said. “It’s been going pretty well.”

RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.

Cover Photo Credit: Emmanuella Enemor/ Facebook

Unclear Whether Cop Who Shot Charles Kinsey, And Almost Shot Autistic Man Was Properly Trained

By Rich Robinson

The personnel jacket of North Miami police officer Jonathan Aledda does not include information regarding whether he was properly trained to interact with people with developmental disabilities like Autism, a RISE NEWS investigation found.

Aledda has come to national attention after he shot unarmed therapist Charles Kinsey three times in the leg last week in a North Miami street.

The Miami-Dade police union president said that Aledda was not trying to shoot Kinsey, but rather his autistic patient named Arnaldo Eliud Rios.

The jacket, which was released by the police department last week details Aledda’s history as a police officer in the city of North Miami.

It also shows some of the trainings Aledda received.

Notably missing from the document is any indication that Aledda received Crisis Intervention Team Policing training (CIT) from the Eleventh Circuit Court.

CIT is often cited by police departments as a top local training method for officers to learn how to deal with people with mental illnesses.

The training also includes a small section (one page) about Autism and other developmental disabilities.

North Miami police spokeswoman Natalie Buissereth said that roughly 85% to 95% of North Miami officers have received CIT training.

“If you don’t see it, it’s not there,” Buissereth said of Aledda’s missing CIT training certificate in his personnel jacket.

READ: Personnel Jacket Of The Cop Who Shot Charles Kinsey

However, Buissereth also said in a phone interview with RISE NEWS, that she would follow up to double check whether Aledda was CIT trained.

Calls to the CIT office have not been returned.

According to information found on the Eleventh Circuit website, CIT officers are pretty important.

“CIT officers respond to crisis calls involving possible mental health issues,” a frequently asked question page about the program says. “They evaluate and de-escalate potentially volatile situations and as necessary transport individuals suffering from a mental illness to community-based facilities for evaluation, treatment, and referrals, instead of subjecting them to immediate arrest when appropriate.”

WATCH: RISE NEWS report from the scene of the Charles Kinsey shooting

Aledda’s personnel jacket paints him as an ambitious and talented young officer who is always volunteering for extra responsibilities.

“Officer Aledda reports to work with a clean and pressed uniform,” A performance evaluation from June of 2016 reads. “He represents a good image for his peers and employees to follow.”

While it is not clear whether Aledda was trained in how to deescalate stations with people who have developmental disabilities, his personnel jacket does show that he is trained in a number of other areas, including as a member of the SWAT team and as a volunteer member of the Strategic Action for Enhanced Enforcement and High Intense Visibility and Enforcement teams.

According to a performance review from August 2014, Aledda “productivity” is “consistently substantially above his peers.”

For example, in July of 2014, Aledda conducted 26 arrests, answered 82 calls for service and issued 138 traffic citations.

For comparions sake, 1 out of every 68 people are autistic.