— In Maryland, the Court of Appeals of Maryland affirmed the denial of a student’s suppression motion involving the search of a backpack and cell phone. After a school resource officer broke up a fight in which the student was involved, the student’s backpack dropped from his body to the ground. The officer and student reached for the backpack simultaneously; the officer picked it up first. The student then ran from the scene. The officer opened the backpack, finding a firearm, three cell phones, and the student’s school ID card. The court ruled that the warrantless search of the backpack was permissible because it was abandoned. The court also ruled that the officers reasonably relied on the warrant in executing the search of the cell phones. Richardson v. Johnson.
— In Indiana, state officials have approved nearly $23 million in grants to fund school security. The grants are awarded each year to help districts pay for school resource officers and upgrades like new equipment. This year, 425 schools have been approved to receive these funds.
— In Massachusetts, parents in the Framingham School District are requesting greater transparency in the implementation of the new school security plan. Under the new agreement with police, city officials promised to (1) alert the community about the details of the agreement, (2) set up a process for submitting complaints about school resource officers, (3) provide data school discipline and arrests, and (4) budget data on the cost of implementation of the agreement.
— In Colorado, educators in the Denver Public Schools are showing returning students a video that recommends that students refrain from reporting campus incidents to police. The video, which focuses on de-escalation of conflicts involving students, includes a series of recommendations. One of the tips says to avoid the police because police can escalate, and “often treat victims as perpetrators of crimes.”