• In Kentucky, the Jefferson County Board of Education will vote soon on a proposal that would eliminate the school resource officer program, replacing it with an in-house security team consisting of 48 officers. The new officers would report directly…
Author: Bernie James
Safety Law News for October 29, 2019
• In South Carolina, the U.S. District Court ruled that a school resource officer used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment rights of a student. The officer, called to a classroom when a student refused administrative requests to…
Safety Law News for October 24, 2019
• In California, the California Court of Appeal ruled that a student was properly adjudicated for making a criminal threat when he used a black “sharpie” marker to write the following statement on the wall of a bathroom stall: “Don’t…
Safety Law News for October 15, 2019
• In North Carolina, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a student was properly adjudicated for disorderly conduct after throwing a chair toward another student in the school’s cafeteria, running away, refusing to cooperate with the school resource officer,…
Safety Law News for October 10, 2019
• In Florida, the United State District Court ruled that a 14-year old female student, who reported bullying and sexual harassment, sufficiently stated a Title IX claim. The student alleged that school officials were deliberately indifferent by failing to put…
Safety Law News for October 7, 2019
• In Maine, a new study by the University of Southern Maine examines the role of school resource officers in Maine and concludes that policing alone does not reduce violence or necessarily improve school safety. More specifically, the report finds…
Safety Law News for October 1st, 2019
• In Ohio, the United States District Court held that classroom video of a student without prior parental consent does not implicate the right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. The court reasoned that a student’s reasonable expectation of privacy…
Safety Law News for September 26, 2019
In Iowa, the Iowa City Community School District School Board wants more input from people before putting forth a security plan that includes the deployment of school resource officers on campuses. A letter from all the district’s high school and…
Safety Law News for September 24, 2019
• In Maine, state officials enacted a law banning vaping or possession of an e-cigarette on school grounds, joining Montana, Oklahoma and Virginia. And in the past three years, at least 18 states have raised the legal smoking age for…
Safety Law News for September 17, 2019
• In South Carolina, a Department of Education report shows that 1,066 guns, knives and other weapons were confiscated in statewide school districts in the 2018-2019 school year. That total is less than the previous three years. State officials believe…