Gun arrests show need for police on Santa Rosa campus: Press Democrat editorial

Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa could have avoided tragedy Wednesday if police arrested a 16-year-old student for having a loaded gun on campus. It was the second such incident at Santa Rosa High School in a week. The new school board and superintendent of freshmen have a lot of work to do to ensure not only the safety of the campus, but also that parents and students feel safe. They can start by bringing school resource officers back to campus.

Having police officers on campus has been the norm for years in Santa Rosa, though the practice has had its detractors. Some parents and advocates did not like the idea of ​​children being supervised. There was also debate over whether schools or local governments should pay for the officers.

Then in 2020, George Floyd was killed by the police in Minneapolis, and there were racial clashes across the country. The Santa Rosa School Board voted unanimously to end the campus police officer program.

Last year a student stabbed and killed another at Montgomery High School. In August a student stabs a classmate to death in a knife-wielding gang attack at Elsie Allen High School.

a week ago A 16-year-old student was arrested at Elsie Allen for bringing loaded weapons and ammunition to school. And now another one in Montgomery.

These are four cases involving weapons in a year and a half.

Almost a year ago, after hearing from students and parents, school board approves pilot program to bring police officers back to campusbut without chronology. This is not a case where a pilot program is really needed. A few years ago there was a program. Get it back on track with some tweaks and regular reviews of opportunities to improve the app. Schools are not reinventing the wheel here.

It’s no wonder that students don’t feel safe when their classmates show up with guns. Indeed, perhaps the two with the guns brought them as an ill-conceived means of protection. Unfortunately, the police are providing few details, which cannot allay the concerns of students, parents and school staff.

Critics might argue that campus cops are unnecessary. Look at just two gun cases. The school management intervened and informed the police. That’s true, but things could have easily gone the other way. Having an officer on hand is no guarantee that every incident will be prevented, but having a trained public safety professional on the lookout for problems increases the odds more than relying on teachers and staff who are focused on training.

When police succeed on campus, they catch problems before they escalate. Their interaction with students can relieve tension and improve young people’s attitudes toward law enforcement, and vice versa. An effective program can create an environment where students know someone cares about their safety.

Three trustees declined to seek re-election to the seven-member board this year. That means some of the fiercest critics of school resource officers will be replaced by new faces. There is no better opportunity to return to school resource officers, not as a pilot program, but as part of an intentional plan to ensure a safe school.

Some details need to be worked out, not least who pays the bills and how to train officers not to criminalize students’ behavior or racially profile them. But recent incidents show that it is no longer time to put off these talks and start doing something.

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