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Safety Law News for March 8, 2019

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• In Washington State, the Senate passed Senate Bill 5141, a bill regulating the training and role of school-based law enforcement. The bill adopts the community-oriented policing model, limits intervention to crimes not school discipline, creates a data collection and reporting plan, and a procedure for parents to file complaints about officers.

• In North Carolina, Senate Bill 192, the School Security Act of 2019, is being considered by the legislature.  If enacted, it will give teachers a five-percent raise in salary to become sworn police officers. Teachers would be authorized to carry concealed weapons in their classrooms and would have arrest powers.

• In Maryland, legislation has been introduced that would create a “Preventative Measure Unit” in public schools that would connect students to mental and behavioral health services.  House Bill 1418 mandates funding for prevention officers who would bridge a gap between school administrators and the juvenile justice system.

• In Ohio, a Butler County judge ruled that Madison County school district administrators and staff do not need the same hours of training as sworn police to be able to carry concealed weapons in school.  Parents had filed a lawsuit to prevent the implementation of a school policy requiring only 27 hours of training.  Sworn officers must complete over 700 hours of training.

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Safety Law News for March 5, 2019

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• In Florida, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office is offering to move around funds from the County budget to reduce the financial burden of the school resource officer program on the school board.  Last year, the school board announced its intention to create a police department within the school district to save $2 million dollars.  The Sheriff believes that the policy change is a bad decision. 

• In Illinois, the Evanston Township Board of Education is implementing a new policy that governs the use of body cameras by school-based police.  Under the agreement, officers “shall not record during the school day unless and until the SRO has reason to believe that a crime has been, or is in the process of being, committed.”  The exception to the rule is that, “in the event an SRO is in a hostile situation or perceives that a complaint will be raised, in the SRO’s discretion, the (body worn camera) can begin recording.”  An incident in Washington State, in which students and staff members had starkly different perceptions, illustrates the importance of body cameras.

• In Kentucky, the legislature has passed Senate Bill 1 and given it to the Governor for final passage.  Senate Bill 1, the School Safety and Resiliency Act, creates Kentucky’s first school safety marshal, expands the use of school resource officers, creates a statewide anonymous safety tip line, and aims to have one counselor with mental health training for every 250 students in a school.

• In Nebraska, a bill proposed by state Sen. Chambers of Omaha would change the way schools employ security officers. His bill, LB589, would prohibit peace officers employed by a law enforcement agency from serving as school resource officers.  Chambers claims that having police officers in schools does not enhance the educational environment, but rather harms students’ ability to learn.

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Safety Law News for February 26, 2019

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• In North Carolina, the Boilings Springs Police Department is replacing the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office in the school resource officer program.  School officials said that having local officers on campus, familiar with the community, was making a real difference.

• In Texas, the Austin ISD is refusing to make public an audit of the school district police department.  A law firm conducted the audit for the district in 2018 after a grievance was filed against the police department.  School officials believe that the audit is confidential and protected by attorney client privilege.

• In Ohio, a Butler County judge indicated that he is inclined to side with officials from the Madison School District in a lawsuit filed by parents who challenged the new policy of arming teachers and staffers.

• In Florida, teachers in the Broward School District are eager for revised safety measures after a student tries to shoot a BB gun at school.  A counselor was the target of the sixth-grader’s anger, pulling the trigger twice, but the gun failed to fire.  The school district in August decided not to employ metal detectors after advice from consultant Michael Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International wrongly led them to believe that it could create a liability issue.

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Safety Law News for February 12, 2019

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• In California, the Salinas City Elementary School District, for the third time, rejected a school resource officer program.  The 4-0 vote, with one abstention, reflects the community’s disapproval of the presence of police on their campuses.  One board member is opposed to the access police will have to student information if the district implements a program.

• In Maryland, the Baltimore City School Board is discussing again the issue of whether police officers should be armed inside schools during the school day, something the school board has unanimously rejected.  The campus shooting of a special education teacher by a visitor to the school on February 8, 2019, is spurring calls for a new policy.  The unarmed school police officer had to call for help.

• In Massachusetts, officials in Worcester are reporting that juvenile arrests continue to trend down for males and females as well as for all racial and ethnic groups.  School-based arrests have also declined. The Superintendent attributes the decrease to three factors: school resource officers who have developed positive relationships with students and staff; prior misreporting of arrests statistics; and a policy change that made disrupting a school assembly a nonarrestable offense.  The results are consistent with the Worcester Youth Violence and Prevention Strategic Plan.

• In Georgia, the legislature has approved a midyear budget adjustment that increases funding for school safety.  It allocates $30,000 for each public school in the state for increased security measures, including school resource officers. It also includes over $8 million for mental health resources.

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Safety Law News for February 8, 2019.

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In Washington State, officials in the Spokane Public Schools are under criticism for hiring a school resource officer who’s repeatedly been accused of using excessive force.

In North Carolina, the report by the school safety committee created by the Governor after the Parkland, Florida school shootings says North Carolina needs to be proactive and provide money to have an armed police officer at every school in the state.

In Florida, the Clay County School District is quickly implanting a plan to create its own police force.  The plan calls for hiring 47 staff members, including a Chief, two Lieutenants, four Sergeants, 36 School Resource Officers, three Relief SRO’s, and one Detective.

In Kentucky, the Senate Education Committee began consideration of Senate Bill 1, the “School Safety and Resiliency Act.”  The legislation on school safety is a top priority of the session.  The parents of two Kentucky teenagers killed on January 23, 2018 at Marshall County High School made emotional pleas to officials for the state to put more money into protecting students.

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Safety Law News for February 6, 2019

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• In New York, the “Saratoga Parents for Safer Schools” have announced its release of an eight point school security plan which addresses the safety needs of the Saratoga Springs school district.  The plan acknowledges the concerns of parents on both sides of the school security debate.

• In Pennsylvania, the Spring Grove Area School District is the first district in the state to offer a specialized mental health training session for its school-based law enforcement officers.

• In Rhode Island, students and community activists in Providence are calling for the creation of unique safety plans for the Providence Public Schools. The plans would be based on restorative justice, removing law enforcement officers from each school and replacing them with additional guidance counselors.

• In Florida, officials in Broward County have authorized police access to real-time monitoring of students in school via video surveillance cameras. The new policy is in response to the recommendations contained in the report of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission.