Racism - Always and Forever

Old racism is dead.

New racism is alive.

 

I assume this is where you are pulling form?
https://evanstonroundtable.com/Cont...-for-School-Safety-at-District-65/16/27/18299

If so, I have issues with SROs, in general, highlighted here:

[Evanston Township High School Assistant Superintendent/Principal Marcus Campbell] said the SROs at ETHS – at present, Officer Loyce Spells and Officer Tanya Jenkins – to “provide a positive school culture. … Our SROs have been partners; we consider them like our staff. They're here every day. They interface with students they interface with teachers and administrators.”

He said the school deans, not the SROs, address issues of student behavior, and safety department personnel monitor the hallways, cafeterias and parking lots.

He said SROs training in restorative practices and usually interact with students “around preventions and interventions that we have in place. It's not a punitive system, but more ‘How do we get students connected to the resources in the community? How do we get them connected to resources here at ETHS? How do we get them connected to whatever supports that they need?’ Whether they're having some externalizing behaviors or internalizing behaviors, we really want them to be and feel supported. …

...

“And with 31 mental health professionals here at ETHS, we know that there's some things that are still police matters [that] should be handled by those who are trying to do that. So we have in our equity journey here at ETHS. We certainly understand the conversation about policing in our communities.​

SROs, which are police officers, provide a positive school culture? How? A police officer in a school, by definition, is not positive. Beyond that, Campbell is full of shit. Yes, deans do handle the most extreme issues of student behavior, but most is dealt with by the teachers. And if the hallway is monitored by what I presume are school employees, why is the officer necessary on a daily basis, or weekly...or even at all?

But these officers are trained in "restorative practices." That means dealing with kids after there has been an incident, not preventative or before. And with 31 mental health professionals, what additional services can a 32nd or 33rd person give which the previous 31 don't have? And will it be outside of the scope of police thinking?

And they have 31 mental health professionals? What a ********ing budget ETHS has.

One attendee questioned why the high school has chosen to use police officers rather than social workers to connect students with resources.

Dr. Campbell said, “It's a great question. Yes. And I'll restate that we have 31 mental health professionals here in ETHS every single day, and they're servicing about 3,800 kids. … I just want to reiterate that there are some things that are simply police matters, that I would not want to expose or put in jeopardy any staff member will be trained professionals who know how to deal with certain types of ideations, if you will.

“And if there are, you know, weapons involved, I certainly would not want to risk the lives of our mental health professionals. There are trained and people who are trained to handle these kinds of situations. And that's what we really rely on the SROs for. … For us it's not a binary; it's ‘both and.’ Our mental health professionals work very closely with our school resource officers regarding how do we support kids in there, maybe harming themselves or harming others or whatever the case may be. It's an all-hands team approach in keeping the 4500 people [students and staff] in this building safe every single day.”​

So, if one student brings a weapon, that means all students are a danger? Why not go further and assume all student bring weapons? And why not install metal detectors and do bag searches before the students enter the building? Why not have multiple police officers roaming the halls making sure no student is ever out of class?

And I found this bit interesting on how it was answered:

Asked what equipment the SROs wear at the high school, Officer Spells said “We are in standard blue uniform. And our duty belt. and that's about it other than perhaps as a school book that we're carrying around, that is about it, we are there not to appear to be to police to the students.”​

My first thought was what is on a duty belt? Does it include a gun?

By email in response to a question from the RoundTable, Officer Spells said he and Officer Jenkins each have a ballistic vest, with a body-worn camera, “but we don’t always wear the vest around the school. Often times we wear only our uniform shirt and pants along with our duty belt, which includes handcuffs, Taser, expandable baton, pepper spray, magazine pouch, and disposable gloves. Of course we also carry our sidearm on our holster as well.” this is helpful.​

And right there at the end, after everything else, yes, they carry a gun. At school. Because the students are such a threat.

But,@chad, I would go even further and point out that Black and brown students are more likely to be disciplined in school and more likely to have a negative interaction with school discipline personnel. They are more likely to be suspended, and more likely to be expelled. So for all the benefits of being a high quality school like ETHS, Black and brown students are more likely to have an negative interaction with the SRO (and let's be real, they are police) in school, just as they are more likely have a negative interaction with police outside of school.

I should state that I worked in a HS conservative community here in Milwaukee but which was akin to Evanston as far as I know Evanston. One issue the school does have is a drug problem, and there were actual searches for drugs (dogs) several times a year (I think once a quarter). They never went into classrooms, but did deal with students in non-assigned areas, such as bathrooms. I can imagine a Black student seeing a police officer with a dog come walking in to the bathroom while they are taking a piss...yeah, that would probably ******** up their day, or week, or longer.

 

While I agree that it is an over simplification, I recall the data does indicate that SROs are part of the problem and that there is no real justification for SROs to be in schools in their current form. I agree that it is a great way to build rapport, but how much rapport can be built when they carry around handcuffs, pepper spray, a baton, and a gun? In a school.