Police Officer Presence at Schools Debated May 17, 2001
News Summary
In response to the school shootings that have taken place throughout the country, many public schools have hired police officers to patrol their grounds. But some experts question the value of cops in schools, CNN reported May 7.Dr. Barry Glassner, a professor at the University of Southern California and author of "Culture of Fear," pointed out that a police presence in schools adds to the false perception that today's schools are increasingly dangerous. "There's been school violence for a long time and actually, it's lower now than it has been," Glassner said. "A student is more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed in school."
But parents and school officials support the police presence on campus. Since 1998, about 3,800 police officers have been hired at more than 1,800 schools through a grant from the U.S. Justice Department's "Cops in School" program.
"The demand has been for police officers to come into the schools as community police officers," said Ellen Scrivner of the Department of Justice. "That's quite different, because that treats the school as a community-policing beat."
One such school is Saugus High School in Saugus, Calif., which employs Deputy Alain Budge. "He's another set of eyes and ears," said Principal Cheryl Brown. "We want kids to think twice about what prices they will pay -- and those prices go beyond school law -- if they are in violation of a misdemeanor or a felony."
But Ramona Ripston of the American Civil Liberties Union is concerned about the impact a police presence at school has on young minds. "What it really does is give students the idea that it's to be watched all the time," said Ripston.
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