Safety Law News for July 14, 2020

— In Kentucky, the United States District Court ruled that school police had probable cause to arrest a parent for terroristic threatening in the second degree.  The parent, in anger, told a school administrator, “[i]f you let bullies run your school, there’s going to be an issue like Sandy Hook…if I have to run through the woods in a ghillie suit, I’m going to protect him.”  The parent was dissatisfied after multiple meetings with school officials about his son’s victimization at the hands of other students.  The court ruled that probable cause requires only the probability of criminal activity, not some type of prima facie showing and that it was sufficient that the officer believed the school was under imminent threat of harm. (Adams v. Wechsler)

— In Oklahoma, the Board of Education for Oklahoma City Public Schools voted to renew its school resource officers program with the Oklahoma City Police Department.  School resource officers are permitted to arrest anyone violating state or city laws. They are instructed to prevent “improper conduct” and trespassing, the contract states.

— In Missouri, officials in Camden County have agreed to place resource officers in its schools for the first time.  With the help of a grant, the full-time school resource officers will be deployed to schools for three years.

— In Massachusetts, the Northampton School Committee passed a nonbinding resolution urging the Northampton City Council to not employ school resource officers in district schools.