Board Rejects Proposal to Put Police in Schools

The Board of Education has rejected a plan to put uniformed police officers in the public schools, saying that they would give teachers and students a false sense of security and might even be viewed as racist.

Instead, the school board voted 4 to 1 Monday to keep its force of security guards.

The board unanimously agreed to give the guards more training, but did not specify what type. Unlike police officers, security guards are not required to update their training.

Board member Jerry Shultz last year cited lack of training as one of the major reasons he raised the issue.

The board also voted to provide teachers and staff members with more training in the areas of drug intervention, gangs, graffiti and weapons control. In addition, the board agreed to add one more staff assistant at each high school to help monitor hallways and supervise for safety.

While overall campus crime has not sharply increased since last year, according to district statistics, there were several gun-related incidents near schools last fall that scared many students and teachers. In addition, vandalism costs increased by 107% from the previous school year, costing the district $1.4 million. That figure is expected to double in 1989-90 if the trend continues.

For months, the board had heard from parents and teachers concerned about crime in the schools. Led by Shultz, some parents had urged the board to upgrade the status of its security guards to police officers to ensure better protection.

Security guards, who wear uniforms and carry guns, act as observers and report disturbances to the Long Beach police. While they can question trespassers on campus, they do not have the authority to stop them from walking away or to take them to jail. “They basically have no more rights than any other citizen,” Shultz said after the meeting.

The guards said that street-savvy kids know the difference between them and police officers. “They just say ‘Hey, buzz off,’ ” guard Ed West told the board.

Their problem, Shultz said, is compounded by the staffing shortages at the Long Beach Police Department, where officer response time has slowed in the last year.

But opponents argued that changing the guards’ status would only serve to raise unrealistic expectations that campus police would eliminate crime.

In the end, the proposal divided community leaders, and the task force appointed to study the issue split 11 to 8 in recommending against the campus police plan.

Minority leaders added another twist to the issue Monday night, when they labeled the plan racist and urged the board to defeat it.

Representatives from the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the district’s Hispanic Advisory Committee said the plan represented Anglos’ fears of the changing ethnic makeup of the school district.

“Who is asking for this and why are they asking for this?” Jerome Torres, chairman of the district’s Hispanic Advisory Committee, asked the school board. An overwhelming majority of the parents who had requested campus police are white, Torres said. It was “a vocal minority afraid of an unknown entity,” he said.

“Do you want to project a racist, intolerant image?” asked Tonia Reyes Uranga, a league representative.

Minority leaders said that having police on campuses could lead to an accidental shooting, and they said the victim would likely be a black or a Latino.

Bobbie Smith, the only black member of the board, told the audience Monday: “My ethnic group has for years and years been the victim of police violence, and on that basis alone I would be opposed (to creating campus police.)”

Board member Shultz, the only one to vote for the campus police plan, said he was “shocked and disgusted with the suggestion this is a racist issue.”

“Crime is not determined by race,” Shultz said, adding that this latest argument is “skirting the issue.”

As a result of the concerns expressed, the board agreed unanimously to encourage programs promoting multiracial, multicultural understanding, similar to those established at Polytechnic High School.

Board members and top district administrators have expressed opposition to a campus police plan for months. They said it was unlikely to lower campus crime, but it would cost the district more money and alter the image of schools as a safe haven.

Board President Jenny Oropeza said after Monday’s meeting that the concerns expressed by minority leaders also played a role in her opposition. Police officers strolling through a campus could exacerbate tensions. “I just couldn’t see the benefit,” Oropeza said.

Other groups opposing a campus police force included the Long Beach Area Citizens Involved and the Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County. Supporters included the Teachers Assn. of Long Beach and PTA members from Wilson High School.