News reports have been rampant, and people have been talking all over the country about the situation in Flower Mound that occurred on June 6, resulting in a 10 year-old girl being handcuffed, taken to the police station and fingerprinted. Captain Wendell Mitchell of the Flower Mound Police Department says standard procedures and state law were followed in the case, and the responding police officers made their decisions based on an intent to protect the victim and give the sisters a period apart for the tension to subside. Additionally, the youngster and her family have been referred to the First Offender Program through Youth and Family Counseling, and no record of the incident will show up on the 10 year-olds record because of that program. The 10 year-old and her 13 year-old sister, along with their mother, are reportedly residents in the Dallas area and were visiting relatives in Flower Mound when the incident happened.

      It all started on Saturday, June 6, when officers responded to a call from witnesses who said an assault was in progress at a park in the 1200 block of Colony Street. Before arriving at the park, officers were re-directed to a home in the 1300 block of Homestead, where witnesses had followed two sisters after seeing them fighting in the park. Witnesses reportedly told officers it had been a serious altercation with punching and kicking, and even when the witnesses approached the girls and told them they were going to call the police, the fight did not break up. At that point, Mitchell said the witnesses followed the two girls to the home on Homestead.

      Mitchell said officers arrived at the home, located the two girls, and saw apparent signs of physical injury. “Additionally, although a parent was present during the interview of the two subjects, officers believed there was a strong probability for continued violence if both subjects were left at the location,” the captain said. Mitchell went on to say that while an officer does have discretion about whether or not to arrest a suspect, they do not have discretion when it comes to protecting a victim. “The officer has no discretion as it pertains to protecting a victim from further family violence,” he said. The decision was made to transport the 10 year-old girl to the police department to defuse the conflict and to complete necessary paperwork. The girl was then released to her mother after about 45 minutes, according to Mitchell.

      Now, the family has been referred to Youth and Family Counseling, a non-profit organization that employs the First Offender Program for adolescents referred by area police departments and courts. It is one of the few programs in the North Texas area that offers professional "family systems," based psychological counseling with services available to all income levels. The therapists at Youth and Family Counseling address a wide range of family, marital, relationship, and individual problems and enjoy a track record of success in helping people in our community overcome difficult developmental and mental health challenges. Youth and Family Counseling has served the residents of Denton County since 1981 when the agency was founded to implement one of the earliest First Offender Programs in the state. The program has had phenomenal success with its family counseling based methods, as demonstrated by an independent study which documents that 83% of youngsters are not arrested a second time.

      Mitchell said this is a diversion program, meaning that it will divert the charges from the County and keep the child from having a juvenile record.  “We are not trying to tell a parent how to raise their child, but counseling may be a highly effective tool in this case.” Mitchell said he realizes that some in the community are upset that charges could even be filed against a 10 year-old for fighting with her big sister. But, as he points out, “A criminal offense did occur in this situation.” Also, Mitchell said officers could have decided to take the youngster to Juvenile Hall, which could have been much more traumatic for the girl and would certainly have resulted in a longer separation from her mother. “It was never our intent to take her to juvenile hall. The intent was for there to be a cooling off period provided.” The News Connection was unable to contact the family in question for their version of events because police are prohibited from releasing contact information regarding a minor.