In Illinois, U.S. District Court ruled that an SRO was not entitled to qualified immunity after handcuffing compliant, six-year-old special education student to teach her a lesson. The court ruled that handcuffing was an obvious violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. The court ruled that the student would be allowed to present evidence of school district liability for failure to train because the SRO had never worked in a school before and was told to carry handcuffs; but was not trained. (Wordlow v. Chicago Board of Education; United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division; 2018 WestLaw 6171792. November 26, 2018).
In Colorado, the Longmont Police Department plans to double the number of school resource officers assigned to the city’s middle and high schools under a new interagency agreement with St. Vrain Valley School District. The increase is part of a growing “philosophical belief” in a “proactive approach” to ensuring campus safety.
In New York, official in the Broadalbin-Perth Central School District wants police officers – state, county, local, from anywhere – to come into their schools, so much so they are offering law enforcement free meals when they visit one of its school campuses.