DRUG RAIDS LEAVE POLICE ASSUMING CHILD-CARE DUTIES

The dozens of federal and local officers who raided homes in Flint and two
neighboring communities Thursday returned with more than just suspects.

At least eight children were taken to the Flint Police Department and
turned over to Children's Protective Services as possible victims of abuse
or neglect.

Caseworkers from the state Family Independence Agency scrambled to identify
the children and file paperwork in family court to arrange placement while
the possible abuse or neglect is investigated.

What ultimately happens to the children will depend on the case.

"We would have to determine the amount of abuse or neglect," said Denise O.
Chambers, director of the Genesee County FIA. "Clearly, if the parents are
not available because they are absent or detained, we would have to seek
other placement.

"We would try to find whatever placement is available for the child. We do
consider relative placement, but it would have to be an appropriate setting
that would pass a home study."

About 24 suspects were charged in the six-month drug sting by several
agencies, including the Mobile Enforcement Unit of the Drug Enforcement
Administration and the Flint and Mt. Morris Township police departments.

Half of the suspects were indicted on drug charges in U.S. District Court,
including Dedric Owens - the father of the 6-year-old boy who shot Kayla R.
Rolland Feb. 29 - and three other family members.

Five children were taken from a home on Afaf Street in Mt. Morris Township
where Dedric Owens' mother, Loys Owens, and sister, April Hightower, were
arrested, federal officials said.

A 14-year-old child was taken from the home of another sister, Angela
Owens, on Harwood Road in Mt. Morris Township, they said.

The sting raises questions about whether police should step in sooner when
children are seen living in homes with guns and drugs.

Police did not alert the FIA about the children until Wednesday afternoon.
Caseworkers interviewed the children at the station after police brought
them in. As a result, caseworkers did not immediately see the conditions
the children were living in.

"We found out probably around 4 p.m. on the day before that there would be
some raids," Chambers said. "We didn't know where, who, or how many cases
were involved. (Police) didn't want us present during the arrests."

Local and federal police officials said they waited to notify the FIA
because they concluded none of the children was in immediate danger.

Flint Police Chief Trevor A. Hampton said the Buell shooting, in which the
young boy had been left in a home with guns and drugs, has made police more
sensitive to the issue.

"To me, it's clear that there needs to be better communication on the part
of both the FIA and law enforcement," Chambers said. "We need to be clear
as to each other's roles and responsibilities."

It's disturbing for children to be removed from their homes and placed in
an unfamiliar setting, she said. In this case, they might have to wait
before court action can be started and placement is made.

"That's why it's so important that parents understand the consequences of
their problems," Chambers said. "It is very unsettling for a child to have
to be removed from their home and watch their parents be put in handcuffs.

"Although they may be loving to them, they are exposing their children to a
very difficult environment, something that no child should have to go through."

Ken Palmer covers the judicial system. He can be reached at (810) 766-6313.