MANATEE - Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells, praising the work of his deputies and criticizing the "disingenuous" reaction of state lawmakers, bid farewell Thursday to the final 12 graduates of a local boot camp program soon to be dismantled and rebuilt.

An opportunity for the graduates to showcase their improvements was also a chance for Wells to voice his strongest comments to date over lawmakers' decision to tear down a program the sheriff was instrumental in creating.

Following the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson after a beating from guards at the Bay County camp in January, legislators decided to do away with boot camp staples such as psychological intimidation and replace them with a softer program called Sheriff's Training and Respect (STAR). Those changes will go into effect once Gov. Jeb Bush signs this year's budget into law.

Wells said Thursday he does not yet know what shape the Manatee camp will take in the future.

Wells used part of Thursday's graduation ceremony, which featured speeches by Republican congressional candidate Vern Buchanan and the appointed leader of the graduating platoon, to defend those in charge of his camp as innocent victims of a political overreaction.

"You've read an awful lot of bad and negative things, but as I stand before you today I could not be prouder of the staff of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office," Wells told a group of about 100 family members and friends of the camp's graduates.

"Now that the Legislature is done I feel like saying a few things about it," Wells said during an interview after the ceremony. "I think many of the statements were disingenuous . . . and I don't think they were applicable to us."

Wells used examples like José Mart', who was chosen by his 11 peers to give the graduation speech to explain to family and friends what the boot camp experience had been like. Mart', the head writer of the speech, progressed nine grade levels in writing, and almost seven grade levels overall, during his six months at the camp. He said the "recruits" - the name given to attendees on their first day - were now in the best physical shape of their lives and had learned their actions always had consequences.

"Wouldn't it have been nice," Wells asked his audience, which cheered his comments, "if legislators who were going to decide the future of boot camps had listened to him?"

Mart', and the others who formed the Manatee County camp's last platoon, opened the ceremony Thursday with a march around the campgrounds. It ended with an emotional reunification of sons and parents.

But Thursday's promise collides with the weight of statistics that show traditional boot camps in Florida, and especially Manatee's camp, to be largely unsuccessful in turning wayward youths around. Several other states have closed their camps following incidents of abuse or general ineffectiveness.

Statewide, 44 percent of camp graduates are convicted of a crime within a year of leaving. Since 2001, Manatee's camp has had a 53 percent recidivism rate - the highest among camps throughout the state.

Wells has acknowledged that recidivism rates are too high, but believes Manatee's numbers could be turned around with the simple addition of an "after-care" program that puts youths and deputies in close contact for six months after graduation. This was the key, he said, to a Martin County camp that has a recidivism rate of 23 percent.

And Wells believes it is a better approach than a complete revamping of the program. He said he didn't speak out during the legislative wrangling because of the "wildfire" brewing.

The parents of Thursday's graduates stood behind the program their sons had completed.

Judith Mart', José's mother, said the transformation of her son "is amazing."

"I'm so proud of my son," she said. "A boy came in, and I am taking home a man."

Mart' said the changes lawmakers are making are "wrong."

Wells said he quickly got over the sting of the legislative rebuke of a program he takes pride in. But he feels like he needs to fight for his staff.

"I'm hurt because my staff is hurt," Wells said. "I can see it in their eyes. They don't like being lumped in with this other misfortune. They didn't deserve that."

Wells said lawmakers were being followers instead of leaders, and simply joining a parade.

Sgt. Robert Bowden, a Manatee boot-camp instructor for 13 years, said he feels persecuted because of the actions of a few in Bay County.

"It was definitely an unfortunate situation in Bay County, but that didn't happen in Manatee County," Bowden said. "We got thrown in the boat that we all abuse and hurt kids."

Bowden said the drill-sergeant aspect of boot-camp culture, which will soon be a thing of the past, is the only way some recruits will respond and improve.

"I believe that, and I will always believe that," Bowden said.

State Rep. Frank Peterman, D-St. Petersburg, who spoke out in favor of boot camp changes as a member of the Legislature's Black Caucus, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Neither could state Rep. Gus Barreiro, R-Miami, who led the effort in the House of Representatives to do away with the traditional camps.

defending his boot camp in the wake of the statewide program being disbanded