School resource officers are sworn law enforcement officers that are assigned to work within the MCPS school system to act as mediators, liaisons and protectors of peace. According to the Montgomery County Police Dept. website, SROs primarily “enhance the safety and security of the learning environment for students, staff and the school community in [MCPS].” They monitor school facilities, resolve conflicts, prevent crimes, assist in emergency drills and act as a point of contact for students and staff members.
Officer Shate Jackson, the SRO of Walter Johnson HS, talks about her role in the school. “I try to make sure [a student feels] comfortable coming up to me because you never know when something might be going on and a kid or a staff might say, ‘I really want to talk to an officer, but I don’t want to call someone into my house.’ So, if I’m here, they always know they have that resource,” Jackson said.
An SRO is assigned to each of the 20+ secondary schools in MCPS, as part of the program’s expansion in 2015. This year, the Montgomery County Council plans to further expand the program with Bill 33-19, a bill which was introduced by the Council in October last year that aims to set new policing guidelines and reporting requirements for the police department, which includes expanding MCPS’s SRO program.
The bill’s lead sponsor Nancy Navarro, council member and then-president of the City Council, wrote in a memorandum on Oct. 1 last year: “The bill provides broad guidelines which [MCPD] can employ to promote core community policing values among officers, such as striving to ensure cultural competency throughout the Department, engaging in positive non-enforcement activities with members of the community, and appropriate training in de-escalation tactics… This bill provides a more solid community policing framework for the Department to operate under. “
It was met with an adverse reaction by the public at its public hearing on Jan. 21. The proposed expansion of the SRO program triggered the widely negative response to it, with members of the MCPS community citing the disproportional ratio of over-policing for students of color and the greater need for expansion to other services, such as school nurses and guidance counselors.
Tiffany Kelly, speaking on behalf of the Silver Spring Justice Coalition, spoke against the bill. “I have [stories] of children who may be hungry, traumatized… being [arrested] by SROs… We do not need law enforcement in schools… We need people who… build up a child, not destroy them… My own son with special needs was questioned by law enforcement at school without my knowledge… What could have happened to my son, being questioned by someone that is not trained to interact with children like him sends a cold chill through my body… There will be unintended consequences if this bill is passed as is… I beg [the council members] to stop the school-to-prison pipeline,” Kelly said at the hearing.
Michael Rubin, a resident of Takoma Park, also spoke up on the issue. “One can… dig through data on our schools and see… patterns on referrals of juveniles to the criminal justice system. We have a problem with racial profiling and racial bias by our police and population that will not be fixed by… increasing the number of SROs in our schools,” Rubin said.
A few weeks after the hearing in Jan., the Councilmembers met for a closed committee work-session on Thursday, Feb. 13 and discussed, among others, Bill 33-19. They read through the different testimonies given by the opposing organizations and individuals. This resulted in councilmember Navarro, as released in the committee staff report, proposing an amendment to the bill. The proposed amendment would, along with changes to other sections of the bill, remove the section concerning the SRO program.
Despite the proposed expansion having been widely unpopular with the public, some people have supported the SROs that patrol their school.
“I have noticed that [the SROs] being around during… drills makes people be quiet and listen… almost no one gets people to listen during drills and the like,” Walter Johnson HS junior Daniel Mouyard said.
As of now, the staff report has been the latest update on the bill. No further details have been released by the Council.
This article was written by Eliazar Montemayor III of Walter Johnson High School
Image courtesy of Creative Commons