Author: Bernie James

Safety Law News for August 11, 2016

In South Carolina, the State Board of Education is proposing new rules that would redefine how school resource officers will interact with students. The proposed rules say an SRO should not get involved until student behavior becomes criminal. Other counties…

Safety Law News for August 4, 2016

In New Hampshire, a new drug prevention curriculum is coming to Rochester schools in an effort to teach kids at a younger age. The LEAD program (Law Enforcement Against Drugs) will replace the DARE program. In Virginia, the Attorney General…

Safety Law News for July 29, 2016

In New York City, dozens of school resource officers were hospitalized after clashes with students in the first three months of the year, according to NYPD data.  Sixty-nine suffered injuries; 40 were severe enough to require hospital visits.  Out of…

Safety Law News for July 26, 2016

In Indiana, a Decatur County Community Schools official praised the impact police officers working in schools have had on students and said the presence of officers has changed the environment in positive ways. In Illinois, Kane County educators are demanding…

Safety Law News for July 21, 2016

In Virginia, the legislature has refiled a previously vetoed proposal on school safety.  House Bill 1392 seeks to allow school security officers to carry firearms.  The Governor vetoed the bill in April 2016 because he believes only trained, active law…

Safety Law News for July 12, 2016

In Pennsylvania, the federal district court has ruled that educators did not violate the rights of a ninth grade student by suspending him for posting on his website page about a bomb going off at the school the next day.…

Safety Law News for July 7, 2016

In California, the state court of appeal has ruled that school administrators had authority to seize and searched a student cell phone based on the student’s suspected involvement in an incident in which a firearm was discovered on campus.  The…

Safety Law News for June 30, 2016

In Georgia, the state court of appeals has ruled that a school district’s “zero-tolerance” policy of expelling students for fighting regardless of whether the student was acting in self-defense was not permitted by the Georgia self-defense statute. [Henry County Board…

Safety Law News for June 28, 2016

In Virginia, the Hampton Police Division will spend over $1 million in the coming fiscal year to station officers within the city’s schools and provide safe road-crossing for students. In Alabama, the new interagency school safety agreement between Huntsville school…

Safety Law News for June 7, 2016

In Delaware, a coalition of state officials, education administrators and police say that the first step to reducing violence among young people is to have police officers assigned to elementary and middle schools. In Missouri, the Governor has signed House…