Board Approves Shotguns for School Police

Acknowledging that school police often face violence in neighborhoods around campuses, the Los Angeles Board of Education approved a plan Monday to equip school police cars with 12-gauge shotguns.

The school board voted 5 to 2 in favor of the proposal after a contentious hearing in which several board members called the weapons a valuable deterrent but others said they feared that students might be shot accidentally.

“If it would help one student or one parent, it’s worth 100 shotguns,” said board member Barbara Boudreaux. “If we think we live in a safe city, where officers don’t need guns, then we’re living in an unreality.”

Board member Victoria Castro, like Boudreaux a former school principal, said she also welcomed the shotguns in a school district where violence all too common.

“When it comes to the safety of our campuses, the safety of our children, the safety of our staff, I want the police officers fully equipped,” Castro said.

But one board member, Valerie Fields, questioned whether the school police really need shotguns.

“If crime is down in the state, the county and the school district, why do we need to ratchet up firepower?” asked Fields, who was joined by board President Julie Korenstein in voting against the measure. “We’ve never had shotguns and I don’t see the need for them now.”

And Korenstein lodged her own protest. “If anybody is harmed or killed, this Board of Education will be liable. Our officers need to be role models, not in the position of taking someone out.”

Even those who agreed to equip patrol cars with shotguns said they did so reluctantly.

“The symbolism is unattractive--we’re going to give another weapon to school police--but we have to look at the reality,” said board member Jeff Horton.

In addition to Boudreaux, Horton and Castro, board members David Tokofsky and George Kiriyama voted for the plan.

The Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department will buy 75 12-gauge Remington shotguns. The weapons, to be locked in police cars during patrol, will be installed in about 60 days. Officers walking campus beats will continue to carry pistols but will not have the shotguns.

Officers armed with the shotguns will employ the same use-of-force policy as other armed officers in the department. That policy calls for them to respond to situations by first using verbal commands and, if necessary, handcuffs, batons and other physical force before resorting to lethal force.

School police officers--who undergo the same state-mandated training as personnel from other police agencies--argue that their work has become increasingly dangerous. Their jobs frequently take them into neighborhoods around schools where students and others engage in crime--and where students sometimes wind up as victims. In just the last three months, four students have been killed three of them while walking home from school.

The Los Angeles Unified police--with 292 sworn personnel the largest school police force in the country--does not maintain statistics on how often officers draw their weapons or how frequently they are fired upon, but Chief Wesley Mitchell said his officers respond to “shots fired” calls two to three times a week.

“The majority of the board members understand the challenges these officers face in trying to make this a safe school system on campuses and in the communities,” Mitchell said.

All officers who handle the shotguns will undergo 16 hours of training on top of the more than 70 hours of firearms training required by the state, Mitchell said.

About two dozen officers attended the board meeting, and they applauded and patted each other on the back after the vote.

“This was long overdue,” said Kevan Otto, a member of the district’s Police Officers Assn., which pushed for the shotgun plan. “Our officers are safer today and the public is safer today. The Board of Education did the right thing.”

But the decision did not come without rancor, and the hearing on the proposal deteriorated at several points into arguments and personal attacks between board members.

After Fields questioned the need for the shotguns, Castro and Boudreaux each reacted angrily.

“On our way home, any one of us could be [carjacked],” Boudreaux said. “When you live in that dream world, be careful. Take an attack on the enemies out there. Don’t attack us for trying to protect the children.”