Policing the Police in Our Schools

June 13 - 19, 2007 by Maya Harris, The Post Newspaper

Police have become an increasing presence in our public schools. As a result, behavior that used to warrant a trip to the principal's office is now referred to campus police. This has led to the criminalization of too many youth - including those who have done nothing wrong.

Take, for example, the incident at a Fairfield high school earlier this year when police came onto the campus of Rodriguez High School and rounded-up a group of innocent students. The Student Resource Officer (SRO) and members of the Fairfield Police Department's Gang Unit approached two groups of students at lunch, lined them up in front of their peers, accused them of being gang members, and photographed them.

"It was embarrassing," one of the students said. "I felt afraid to go to school after that." Another student, who was among those photographed added, "We didn't do anything wrong. I was just talking to my friends."

The families of the students acted quickly and decisively to resolve the incident, immediately demanding an explanation from the school and the police department. After officials gave an inadequate response, the parents contacted the ACLU of Northern California for help.

We conducted an investigation into the incident and ended up in negotiations with city officials. Last week, the families and the City of Fairfield reached a settlement agreement to resolve the matter.

The agreement includes the destruction of all of the photographs and information collected during the incident, as well as improved policies to guide police conduct on school campuses in the future to protect students' rights. Among other things, it sets clear standards for when police can and cannot photograph, search or question students on school campuses or at school functions.

All Fairfield police officers are to be trained in these new policies and students will be provided with educational materials regarding their rights in interacting with the police.

And, significantly, after publicly and wrongfully targeting the students, officials also agreed to send an open letter to the high school community clearing the targeted students of any wrongdoing. In the letter, the police chief and the school principal acknowledge that they have no information that any of the targeted students are gang members and that none of the students have criminal records or are the subject of any criminal investigation.

Fortunately, this story had a happy ending. But many more of these incidents go unheard of and unresolved. While many schools in California now have full-time officers, most lack policies to adequately protect students' rights with the police.

We need to do more to monitor police interaction with students on elementary, middle and high school campuses and establish clear policies that respect and safeguard students' rights, as well as their safety.