Defunding / abolishing school police (consolidated thread)

Discussion in 'Police, Jailers, Prison Guards, Firefighters, etc.' started by News Readers, May 27, 2016.

  1. News Readers

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    Why many districts are struggling over whether to keep officers in schools

    From a young age, Shana Johnson has taught her two teenage boys to be calm with police officers, even with the ones they encounter at school because she knows that Black boys are disproportionately targeted for disciplinary actions and even arrests. Her children, aged 13 and 17, attend the South Bend public school system in northern Indiana and have told her they often feel intimidated and closely monitored by school resource officers. “It’s not a positive learning environment for kids to have officers walking around constantly,” said Johnson, who has been researching data on school policing over the last year. ...


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    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...g-over-whether-keep-officers-schools-n1275106

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  2. News Readers

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    Superintendent’s report says policing ‘does not belong’ in Richmond schools; recommends expanding officers’ role

    In a public document submitted to the Richmond City School Board, Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras laid out his recommendations for re-imagining the role of School Resource Officers (SROs) after over a year of study. Among his recommendations: having SROs change over to “soft” uniforms, having SROs mentor groups of students, and developing a diversion program to end arrests for non-violent offenses. And though the report opens “the Administration believes that the institution of policing does not belong in schools,” none of the recommendations involve a reduction in the scope of SRO involvement in Richmond schools. The report will ...


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    https://www.wric.com/news/local-new...d-schools-recommends-expanding-officers-role/

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  3. News Readers

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    After ending campus police, San Jose Unified will keep cops on as moonlighters

    A few weeks after a milestone board vote ended the routine presence of police officers at campuses in the South Bay’s largest school district, the same board has unanimously voted to allow those same officers to moonlight as security for large after-school events. The decision was met with immediate outcry from advocates who lobbied the San Jose Unified School District board to eliminate school-resource officers from the district amid a wave of activism that coalesced last summer in the wake of George Floyd protests and broad reform calls. “This is a way where they can still hold hands with police,” ...


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    https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/0...se-unified-will-keep-cops-on-as-moonlighters/

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  4. News Readers

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    Cedar Rapids schools consider changes to resource officer program

    The Cedar Rapids Community School District is considering removing school resource officers from middle schools and ensuring that the officers in high schools not be involved in enforcing school rules or discipline, among other recommendations being considered by the school board. The proposed changes come as the district and Cedar Rapids Police Department set joint goals of reducing arrests and charges filed of all students by 50 percent or more, and of bringing a 50 percent or greater reduction in the disproportionality of arrests of Black students. “Without making changes we’re not providing equitable opportunities for students,” Deputy Superintendent Nicole ...


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  5. News Readers

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    Verona officials at odds over return of school police officer

    Verona officials remain at odds over whether to bring a police officer back into the suburban Dane County school district, with the city saying it won’t bow to a district demand that the officer notify school officials before making arrests, and police wanting assurances that if a potential crime occurs on district property, school staff will actually call police. Verona was among the local school districts to reevaluate their school resource officer programs in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year and a subsequent national reckoning over policing and race. In Madison, it spurred ...


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  6. News Readers

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    Verona officials at odds over return of school police officer

    Verona officials remain at odds over whether to bring a police officer back into the suburban Dane County school district, with the city saying it won’t bow to a district demand that the officer notify school officials before making arrests, and police wanting assurances that if a potential crime occurs on district property, school staff will actually call police. Verona was among the local school districts to reevaluate their school resource officer programs in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year and a subsequent national reckoning over policing and race. In Madison, it spurred ...


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  7. News Readers

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    When schools call police on kids

    A school safety officer removed a third-grader from class, took him to a staff bathroom, closed the door and berated him, telling the frightened child to “stop crying like a little girl.” His crime? Refusing to leave art class after an argument with another student at their Northeast Philadelphia elementary school. In the aftermath of the 2017 incident, the Philadelphia schools issued a statement acknowledging it was not handled correctly. But a charged encounter with an officer in school is far from rare. Nationally, nearly 230,000 students were referred to law enforcement during the 2017-18 school year, exemplifying why demands ...


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    https://publicintegrity.org/education/criminalizing-kids/police-in-schools-disparities/

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    School policing falls hardest on Black students and those with disabilities, study shows

    A school safety officer removed a third-grader from class, took him to a staff bathroom, closed the door and berated him, telling the frightened child to “stop crying like a little girl.”


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    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-children-face-harsher-discipline/5436023001/

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  8. News Readers

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    School policing falls hardest on Black students and those with disabilities, study shows

    A school safety officer removed a third grader from class, took him to a staff bathroom, closed the door and berated him, telling the frightened child to “stop crying like a little girl.” His crime? Refusing to leave art class after an argument with another student at their northeast Philadelphia elementary school. In the aftermath of the incident in 2017, Philadelphia schools issued a statement acknowledging it was not handled correctly. But a charged encounter with an officer in school is far from rare. Nationally, students were referred to law enforcement nearly 230,000 times during the 2017-18 school year, exemplifying ...


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    https://news.yahoo.com/school-policing-falls-hardest-black-090158597.html

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  9. News Readers

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    Denver schools increase safety officers, seek authority to ticket students

    After Denver Public Schools removed police officers from its schools over the past year, the district has increased its own armed patrol unit and is in talks with the city about allowing those officers to issue tickets to students for violations like marijuana possession and fighting. While the district believes the arrangement furthers its goal of reducing student interactions with police, some advocates see it as a bait-and-switch. Denver Public Schools will no longer have 18 Denver police officers stationed inside schools issuing tickets, but if the arrangement is finalized, the district’s expanded mobile force of 25 armed patrol officers ...


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    https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/9/9/22665809/denver-schools-armed-security-guards-ticket-students

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  10. News Readers

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    LAUSD board votes down proposal to allow school officers back on campuses

    A resolution that would have allowed school police officers to be placed back on campuses was rejected by the Los Angeles Unified school board on Tuesday, Sept. 14, seven months after the majority of board members voted to permanently move them off campuses in the first place. The resolution, sponsored by board members George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson, had been framed as a local control issue for school sites by giving principals and individual school communities the autonomy to decide if they wish to have an officer stationed at a middle or high school. The resolution would not have forced ...


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    https://www.dailynews.com/2021/09/1...al-to-allow-school-officers-back-on-campuses/

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  11. News Readers

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    School resource officer debate reignites in Santa Cruz County

    The Pajaro Valley Unified School District is holding a special meeting Wednesday at the Henry Mello Center on Beach Street following the murder of a 17-year-old student at Aptos High two weeks ago. The meeting comes as the debate over school resource officers (SROs) re-ignites. Many parents are calling on the district to reinstate the SRO program. Now the board could decide to reinstate the program, or they might decide to continue only with their social-emotional programs for students or they could approve both into the district. "We have a school resource deputy assigned to Soquel and he was able ...


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    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/s...ate-reignites-in-santa-cruz-county/ar-AAOuucF

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  12. News Readers

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    Southern Guilford High School teacher pushes for more security at schools

    A Guilford County teacher is pushing for metal detectors and other security measures on school campuses to keep students, staff and visitors safe. “We’ve lost one student at Mount Tabor,” said Michael Logan, a teacher at Southern Guilford High School. “What if someone went in and just really started shooting, at that point metal detectors are important.” One student died after a shooting at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem on Sept. 1. A string of lockdowns at other Triad school districts have followed. “Nothing’s going to really stop someone from wanting get into a school but a metal detector ...


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    https://myfox8.com/news/north-carol...-teacher-pushes-for-more-security-at-schools/

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  13. News Readers

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    PVUSD Board votes to return SROs to campuses but with twist: Officers to pair with mental health clinicians

    In the summer of 2020, amid protests against police brutality and systemic racism, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board voted to remove student resource officers (SROs) from its campuses. But, in the wake of the late-August murder at Aptos High School which triggered concerns about student safety, that decision was called into question. Wednesday night, after hours of comments from impassioned community members in a meeting spanning over four hours, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District voted 6-1 to reinstate SROs at Aptos and Watsonville high schools. But, according to district Superintendent Michelle Rodriquez, the job of SROs will ...


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    https://lookout.co/santacruz/educat...urce-officers-sros-campuses-mental-clinicians

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    [google]PVUSD Board votes to return SROs to campuses but with twist: Officers to pair with mental health clinicians[/google]
     
  14. News Readers

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    Cops Back On Campus At PVUSD Schools After Student Slaying

    School resource officers will be back at two Pajaro Valley Unified School District campuses in the wake of an on-campus killing at Aptos High School. The PVUSD board voted 6-1 last week to bring back Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputies as school resource officers, with Trustee Maria Orozco dissenting due to concerns about ways that money could be better spent. The board voted unanimously to pair school resource officers with mental health clinicians at Aptos and Watsonville High Schools in a two-year pilot program, and enact safety improvements such as adding campus supervisors to high schools, improving cell coverage at ...


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    https://patch.com/california/watsonville/cops-back-campus-pvusd-schools-after-student-slaying

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  15. News Readers

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    ‘JCPS has to have its own police department, no two ways about it,’ LMPD chief says

    Hours after the city’s latest instance of gun violence claimed the life of Louisville teenager at a school bus stop, LMPD Chief Erika Shields did not pull any punches. ”We can’t sit here with our thumbs up our a**, do nothing different and think we won’t be back at this podium,” Shields said. Shields made the remarks at a news conference attended by multiple city leaders, including Mayor Greg Fischer and JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio. “I am going to bang this drum loudly,” Shields said. “But I am going to be leaning in on the Board of Education. JCPS has ...


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    [google]‘JCPS has to have its own police department, no two ways about it,’ LMPD chief says[/google]
     
  16. News Readers

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    Some IPS police see themselves as educators; students and teachers do not

    Many officers who patrol Indianapolis Public Schools see themselves as educators and informal counselors, in addition to law enforcement officers. Most students, staff, and parents, however, see them strictly as police. That divergence in perception is among the findings of an independent review of the district’s security force by Indiana University’s Public Policy Institute. The report, presented to the school board Tuesday, noted other disparities in outlook: While 88% of the district police officers said they collaborate effectively with school personnel, just 61% of staff agreed. The report includes recommendations on oversight, training, accountability, and more. “I think it’s a ...


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    https://in.chalkbeat.org/2021/9/22/22688787/ips-school-officers-study-indiana-university

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  17. News Readers

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    Cedar Rapids to decide fate of police officers in schools

    A revised agreement between Cedar Rapids schools and the city for police officers in schools — scheduled to be voted on Monday by the school board — could remove full-time officers from middle schools, have officers wear a “soft uniform” to be less intimidating and compel officers to seek diversion options for first offenses where possible. The school district and police department have been working to revise the current agreement to make 13 recommended changes, with the goal of reducing arrests and charges against all students by half or more, and of bringing a 50 percent or greater reduction in ...


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  18. News Readers

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    LMPD chief continues to push for JCPS police force

    As Louisville Police Chief Erika Shields continues to push for Jefferson County Public Schools to create its own police force following the death of 16-year-old Tyree Smith, community leaders are pushing back. "I made the comment that one of the things that I was going to push for was for [JCPS] to have their own police department, and I stand by that," Shields said. In 2019, JCPS cut ties with local police who were providing school resource officers after LMPD reassigned officers during a budget crisis. The district started planning its own in-house security, but leaders said plans stalled during ...


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    https://www.whas11.com/article/news...orce/417-74bb9f1e-9c01-4136-a8c6-930b31d10054

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  19. News Readers

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    Connecticut schools need counselors, not cops

    We live in a world where harsh disciplinary practices for our children are prioritized more than their education and well-being. Unfortunately, this rings true for tens of thousands of children in Connecticut and millions across America. Rather than using funds to increase the presence of school counselors, family supports, replacing outdated textbooks, or strengthening other student educational resources; we see funds used for the salaries of school Resource officers (SROs), armed police officers positioned on campus, security guards as well as for prison-like security apparatuses. SROs were mainly instituted to increase students’ safety from significant internal or external threats. However, ...


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    https://ctmirror.org/category/ct-viewpoints/connecticut-schools-need-counselors-not-cops/

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  20. News Readers

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    Wisconsin schools called police on students at twice the national rate — for Native students, it was the highest

    The 2017-18 school year was difficult at Lakeland Union High School. Disciplinary problems came in waves for the Oneida County school — in February 2018, two students were arrested for making terror threats — just days after the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “That was a rough year,” said Chad Gauerke, the school principal. Lakeland referred over 6% of its students to police, including the two teenagers, whose separate threats shut down the school for a day. Lakeland wasn’t the only Wisconsin district which saw a high level of police involvement that school year. Public schools ...


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    https://milwaukeenns.org/2021/09/28...-rate-for-native-students-it-was-the-highest/

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    [google]Wisconsin schools called police on students at twice the national rate — for Native students, it was the highest[/google]