The Oklahoma House Criminal Judiciary Committee held an interim study examining child-sensitive arrest policies and practices when children are present during the arrest of a parent or caregiver. The study was requested by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth through its Children of Incarcerated Parents Advisory Committee.
Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, directed the study. Turner served more than two decades in law enforcement including as a sheriff and narcotics officer. According to Turner, the study aimed to examine current state law enforcement policies, practices, training and data collection efforts and identify ways to strengthen officer training, cross-system collaboration and available resources.
According to testimony at the hearing, more than 26,000 Oklahoma children have a parent in prison, and one in 10 have experienced incarceration of a family member. Experts testified that witnessing a parent's arrest can cause acute stress and trauma, with potential long-term effects on child development and school performance.
Dr. David McLeod, chair of the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth's Children of Incarcerated Parents Advisory Committee and a director at the University of Oklahoma's Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work, testified about the psychological impacts on children. Shannon Luper, program director of Girl Scouts Beyond Bars and Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma, told the committee: "The question is not only what happens to the parent. It is what happens to the child. Parental arrest is not a single event for the child. It's a journey."
The study also included testimony from law enforcement officials, including Scott Walton, sheriff of Rogers County, as well as from children and families affected by parental arrest.