Do we have safety officers in our high school and if so, what are their guidelines?

I don't feel like the officers in our towns are goons, and the principals I know are thoughtful, intelligent, and compassionate. I don't see this situation developing.

Nor do I. Given how the police in Maplewood and SO have handled past lunacy, I'm not convinced there's any reason why that wouldn't continue. There's surely no precedent for it.

I have two thoughts on the issue, actually more but two that I will express.

1. This guy is a power hungry scumbag who is not fit to wear a uniform or be in any position of authority. I hope that he deals with a great deal of grief in the next few years for his despicable behavior.

2. If it had been my kids class that she had been disrupting, I probably would have taken some pleasure in hearing about the outcome so long as she was not seriously injured.

I know that those two thoughts don't necessarily mesh but when both subjects are an issue to society, I have trouble feeling bad for either of them.

We had SRO's in our middle and High schoolsseveral years ago. They were a resource for the school. There were no issues and were phased out due to budget constraints .

ctrzaska said:
Nor do I. Given how the police in Maplewood and SO have handled past lunacy, I'm not convinced there's any reason why that wouldn't continue. There's surely no precedent for it.

I agree. I haven't seen any signs that cops like the guy in SC exist here and I'm certainly not suggesting that. I guess I measure the potential pluses against the potential minuses. All you need is one person to misunderstand or forget policy for a moment and then you have a bad situation. Teachers, administrators, staff and of course kids with lots of energy and attitude- too many moving parts in my opinion.

I think cops should be cops and handle the general public and teachers and administrators should handle kids in school. I don't really think there's any need to introduce a scenario where school infractions eventually become crimes and require kids to be arrested and detained. Again- everything doesn't require a hammer and we shouldn't make armed cops responsible for keeping 13 and 14 year olds in line.

Now, if we had a district where kids were bringing weapons to middle school on a regular basis- different conversation.

flimbro said:

FilmCarp said:
I would love to have a properly trained officer in the school. Let's see, we had a knife and a gun last year, right? I don't want them involved in school discipline issues, but for safety if we could afford it I'd be okay with it.

Nah, I wouldn't- not worth the risk. Too easy for an improperly "trained" or stressed teacher or administrator to relinquish control and or responsibility and allow an armed adult to intervene and escalate. The officer in SC was "trained". Not everything needs a hammer.

^ THIS ^

Below speaks to @FilmCarp's point and to @krugle1's question about orphanage:

(Via HuffPo)

The attorney for a 16-year-old student who was thrown across a classroom during an arrest says the officer should be jailed for his actions.

Attorney Todd Rutherford said Wednesday that the girl went to the hospital Monday night and has a cast on her arm and has complained of neck, back and psychological injuries.

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Rutherford also said that the student is a recent orphan who lost her mother and is currently living in a foster home. "While her identity, no doubt, will eventually be leaked to the media, it's the goal of her foster mother to protect and care for her as well as she can considering the circumstances," the Daily News' Shaun King wrote.

Authorities say the student was being disruptive in class and wouldn't go to the office after she was caught using her phone in class. After the officer was called to the classroom, the student still wouldn't get up, and the deputy threw her backward in her desk and dragged her across the classroom.

Rutherford said if an officer had done that to an animal, he would be in jail. He also says the officer should not have been called to the classroom in the first place.

When I was in 6th grade, I hit the kid who sat in front of me over the head with a book, pretty hard given what strength I had. At the time, both of my parents were in and out of hospital, and I was feeling a little stressed. So glad my perpetually ladylike teacher handled this with a simple, fairly extensive shaming, instead of throwing me across the room. hooeeee things have changed, tough on kids!!

I hope it all gets sorted out properly, and the girl gets the support she needs from her foster parent(s) and also from the school. Officer, leaving aside his potentially criminal assault & battery, was a damn poor model for how to handle frustration, for the whole class and school.

Misconduct can happen anywhere, even in, gasp !!!, NJ towns. Happened in Bloomfield. Were it not for a dash camera the accused civilian could have been sentenced five years in jail due to perjured police testimony.

The incident occurred in 2012 but the cops trial has yet to take place.

Its naive to assume it can't happen in my town.

News report with dashcam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2_2W1luwdo

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/07/trial_delayed_for_bloomfield_cops_in_dash-cam_case.html

that video is horrible.

When our kids were at CHS fifteen or so years ago there was a Maplewood police officer assigned to the school. There were never any untold issues. Certainly, this is a better solution than the regular security guards who are basically the same as the rent-a-cops at the mall.

Yes, what happened in Columbia SC was horrible, but the laws there are much different than here in New Jersey. Police regularly enter schools and arrest students for what are here minor incidents.

To me, this seems like a perfect storm for troubled kids or kids with some with learning disability to become early visitors to the justice system. It's a pipeline from school to prison. Other than attempted murder and/or bodily harm, I don't see why kids/teens are being arrested in what is supposed to be a safe environment.

If schools have a violent history that they are trying to better then there is something else going on in that building that police presence cannotl not readily fix.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/07/08/opinion/sunday/the-strip.html?ref=opinion#1

"The Strip" nailed it. Bravo!