Campus Blues : L.A. Unified Puts Police Officers in Uniforms to Send a Signal to Troublemakers

As they huddled in their lunchtime clusters at Banning High School, students stared at the navy-clad police officers passing by.

“The first thing I thought when I saw them is, ‘What happened?’ ” said senior Kimberly Price, 17.

Seeing the officers in uniform shocked Price and other students at the Wilmington school, but under a new district policy it will become a routine sight.

The Los Angeles Unified School District last week ordered school police to wear uniforms, hoping the increased visibility will deter outsiders from committing crimes on campus.

The decision came after a Dorsey High School student was shot and seriously wounded on campus on the first day of school.

At Banning, one of the largest L.A. district schools in the South Bay, some students agreed that uniformed officers will increase safety, although others said outsiders will commit crimes--uniformed officers or not.

“It’s about time they become more visually active,” said Jason Johnson, 17. “Now people from the outside can recognize them.”

Others say it won’t make a difference.

“When they were dressed regular, you didn’t notice them,” said senior Jaime Lucano. “Now you pay more attention to them. People will still cause trouble, but they won’t do it in front of the police.”

When they wore civilian clothes, the school police looked as imposing as any math teacher.

The officers carried guns, but the weapons were concealed. Students knew the campus police but hardly noticed them because they blended in with the faculty.

Now, seeing the school’s two officers in uniform “makes you not want to cause trouble,” said David Lara, 17.

All 53 high schools in the district, including six in the South Bay, have one or two uniformed officers patrolling campuses. Because of budget shortages, two of the eight middle schools in the South Bay--Dana in San Pedro and Fleming in Lomita--do not have campus police.

For 28 years, armed police have patrolled the district’s junior high and high school campuses. They wore uniforms only during sporting events.

During the Vietnam Era, when the force was created, seeing officers in uniform bothered students.

“Back in the ‘60s, there was a resistance to any uniformed police on campus,” said Richard Page, assistant chief of school police. “So to be less disruptive to the environment, our officers wore plainclothes.”

Now students say it doesn’t matter what the officers wear.

“What’s the difference?” said senior Elizabeth Montesdeoca, 17. “They carry guns both ways.”

Vince Navarrete agreed. “It’s not like they were undercover before. Everybody knows who they are.”

One student said the presence of uniformed officers further muddies the school district’s image.

“I think it makes the district look bad,” said senior Alvaro Hernandez, 18. “It’s like, they have to wear the uniform to protect the schools. I think parents will think twice about bringing their kids to schools that have uniformed police on campus.”

Banning’s faculty and staff generally favored the new policy on the 3,500-student campus.

“I think it will be a deterrent for the kids who come up here, looking to cause trouble,” said Evie Phineas, an aide who keeps watch at Banning’s main entrance.

“I think it leaves a better impression,” she said. “It’s more businesslike.”

Seeing officers in uniform, said Principal Bea Lamothe, may be just the reminder some students need. “If it makes everybody think about what they are doing,” she said, “or think about what they’re thinking about doing, then good!”

As parents arrived on a recent afternoon to pick up their children after school, they said they found comfort in the sight of a uniformed officer.

“Maybe now incidents like those shootings won’t happen so much,” said parent Rita Roberts as she watched an officer walk by.

Officers were tight-lipped about the change. Meanwhile, after their initial surprise, Price and her friends took the presence of uniforms in stride.

After the officers passed her, she and her friends resumed talking and eating--and ignoring the campus police once again.

“The students will be more likely to do right,” Price said, “now that (police) are in uniform.”