South San Francisco Unified School District Eyes Change with School Police
South San Francisco school officials examine the deal for liaison officers
By Austin Walsh Daily Journal staff
Aug 3, 2020
Acknowledging concerns over a relationship placing police officers on local campuses, school officials in South San Francisco agreed to consider amending the relationship with law enforcement.
The South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed during a meeting Monday, July 27, the school liaison program operated in collaboration with the South San Francisco Police Department.
The design of the initiative which rotates two officers through district sites is under review because some students and members of the school community fear it leads to police profiling and harassment, said officials.
But before any sizable changes are made, school officials agreed that they needed to do improve district policies with hopes of laying the groundwork for a better relationship.
“I think we need to do some fixes,” said Trustee John Baker, who said the district should “get our house in order,” before requesting the police department change its approach.
Accordingly, he favored establishing a district policy which would detail appropriate instances for schools to call police for assistance to campuses. He hoped such an agreement would prevent officers arresting students at campuses for nonviolent issues.
He also favored building a memorandum of understanding with the police department, which would clearly define the responsibilities for officers when they are on campuses.
Additionally, Baker requested more information regarding the training required to qualify as a school liaison officer. And he hoped the district could invest in more counselors and conflict mediators who could help students in need, potentially limiting the expectations for police on campus.
Such a perspective aligned with school community members who raised a series of issues with police presence at local schools.
“There is no room for cops in this school district,” said Kanani Cortez, a former district student who advocated for officials to invest in counselors and other support personnel rather than build a partnership with police.
For her part, board President Pat Murray said she would consider many of Baker’s proposals but needed more information first. To that end, trustees instructed administrators to track down data regarding the effectiveness of the program, and other related studies.
“We need to work together to look at our system with the intent to build real change,” said Murray, who called for improving the program rather than ending it.
Preserving the program would align with the wishes of Police Chief Jeff Azzopardi, who considers it an invaluable form of building connections between the department and school community.
“I refuse to think a police officer there with students just socializing is such a negative thing,” said Azzopardi. “I just have a hard time with that.”
The most recent discussion followed a previous board conversation when Azzopardi outlined specifics of the program and urged officials to keep it intact.
For roughly 30 years, officers from the South San Francisco Police Department have had some presence on district campuses, which in recent years has led to most of their time spent at high schools.
Officers engage with students and staff in a variety of manners, including offering presentations and other efforts to build community. Azzopardi has said their presence is not focused on enforcement, but officers will respond to calls from campuses.
With the knowledge that the department will maintain an obligation to police campuses, he suggested having trained officers on site is preferable to patrol personnel responding.
“Officers are still going to go there, we are still going to get called and we are still going to need to respond in case of emergencies. I want to be able to have officers who are trained — the officers that want to be there — that’s who I want in our schools,” he said.
Most district officials agreed, but board Vice President Eddie Flores pushed hard for reforms — citing concerns he has heard from those who feel intimidated or harassed by police on campus.
“I am tired of this,” said Flores, who expressed his discontentment with the status quo.
Amending the program could be especially challenging as officials attempt to simultaneously balance devising a plan for reopening schools, said Murray, who concurred more discussion is likely in order.
“I agree we should look into this further,” she said.
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Source: https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/south-san-francisco-unified-school-district-eyes-change-with-school-police/article_96064348-d539-11ea-82b7-536366716e06.html