Message to the DOJ: Cops Are Not Educators or Mentors!
by Shani Ealey, Staff Writer
October 18, 2016
Earlier this month, The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Education (DOE) released guidance and recommendations 1 calling for expanding– rather than eliminating– police in schools. In addition, they called for increased funding for the DOJ’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. The DOJ has chosen to take a position that does not value the lives of Black youth and families. Although fully aware of the harms that Black children face as a result of “zero tolerance” policies,2 the DOJ’s guidances urges communities impacted by police violence to deepen and strengthen their relationships with school resource officers (SROs). Director of the COPS program, Ronald L. Davis said that he “strongly believes that properly implemented school resource officers (SROs) can positively impact the lives of our nation’s students.” Davis then goes on to say that police officers fill critical roles in schools such as “educators and mentors.”
Blurring the lines of police with mentors and educators is dangerous and problematic for several reasons including: 1) it creates confusion for students on the role of police and the lines of counsel versus questioning students becomes unclear 2) educators are trained professionals and our often paid half the salary of school police. 3) the impact of police guised as mentors to youth has ranged from trauma and incarceration to sexual exploitation.3 It is an illogical, dangerous and expensive notion that police could step into the roles of teachers, counselors and mentors.
The DOJ’s COPS recommendations are not the answer to police in schools but in fact a proponent in the maintenance of the school-to-prison pipeline. According to Davis, “the COPS office has provided funding for the nationwide hiring of more than 7,000 SROs since 1996.” Although the majority of SROs are funded at the state and local level (there are a total of 19,000 SROs nationwide). Furthermore, school districts that follow the DOJ’s COPS recommendation will be eligible for federal funding. Thereby, incentivizing and prioritizing the funding and expansion of police in schools.
It is important for us to not settle for small steps that look like reform but actually take us further down a road where schools look more and more like prisons with correctional officers holding restorative justice circles. It has gotten to the point where Black and Brown students don’t know if being too playful, speaking too loud or even ‘talking back’ to a teacher could result in humiliation, handcuffs or worse. Since the Black Organizing Project launched the Bettering Our School System (BOSS) campaign, we have worked to limit the role of police with the ultimate goal of eliminating police in Oakland Schools and investing in positive school culture. We launched the campaign in 2011 in honor of Raheim Brown who was murdered at the hands of Oakland School Police. We continue to work towards this goal because we are committed to all Oakland students and our belief in their right to safe and supportive schools.
Liberating and empowering school environments are places that are filled with supportive educators, caring mentors, and encouraging and qualified counselors. Liberating and empowering school environments are places where youth feel free to grow and be who they are. These are places where conflict and discipline are met with listening and healing circles, one on one dialogue, counseling, designated time for meditation and mindfulness, and accessible community mentors and mediators. It is a place without the violence and surveillance that comes with police.
We are pleased that national networks such as Dignity and Schools Coalition and Movement For Black Lives are amplifying the demands of groups on the ground working towards this overall all goal of #nopoliceinschools. While organizing on a local level is still critical, we are also calling for disinvestment in school police funding and greater accountability for the federal government’s role in building and maintaining infrastructure of the school-to-prison pipeline.
References
- “U.S Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services” Press Release – 09-08-2016, http://bit.ly/2cGPUUT
- “2013-2014 Civil Rights Data Collection” U.S Department of Education, http://bit.ly/1UcjKgT
- “Four Oakland police officers fired, seven suspended after sprawling sexual misconduct investigation” The Washington Post – 09-8-2016 http://wapo.st/2ejHkw3