New Rochelle school board votes against armed school police motivated by race and anti police sentiments
NEW ROCHELLE NY August 12 2019 – The school board ended one of its hotly debated issues when it voted 8-1 against using armed police officers as security in the schools.
It’s an issue with a racial component that has passionate points of view about law enforcement.
Many did not trust the police to provide security for the schools and others did not believe that children would be treated fairly by the police.
In the end, the school district accepted the recommendations of the Culture and Climate Committee and said no to having School Resource Officers.
“The presence of SROs will not create the sense of a safe environment for many individuals and are not a guarantee of effective security,” the district said in a letter to the community, which was signed by Interim Superintendent Magda Parvey and newly appointed Superintendent Laura Feijóo.
“There are more proven means of improving campus safety, which include enhanced security guard training as well as using the most up-to-date security features in school buildings, classroom spaces and grounds.”
The lone dissenting voice was Christopher Daniello, who’s a New York City police officer. He said before his vote that the SRO program, if given a chance, “can build bridges.”
“If you put in an officer as an SRO in the school, not every student is going to say hello to him everyday, but he’s there day after day and says hello. And slowly those bridges are made. Those gaps are filled,” Daniello said.
I worked 16 years in the south Bronx. I’m a white male. But week after week, day after day, the same faces see me and I see the same faces, and eventually I become Officer Chris,” he said. “I become a person that the kids come up to and say hello to. Why? Because I have a friendly face and show that I care. I don’t just say I care and go home. I show that I care. And that is what I envisioned in our SRO program.”
His comments were met with heckles and name calling from the audience, which angered some city residents.
Frances LoBue Lazzarini, a parent of three in the school district who’s in favor of the SRO program, said it was a shame to see how Daniello was disrespected.
“It’s sad to see we are living in a world where some folks are raising their children to fear cops,” she said. “As a kid growing up I was always taught to respect law enforcement. If I was ever afraid of them it was because I was probably doing something wrong, although I never did anything wrong.”
Minister Mark McLean, president of New Rochelle’s branch of the NAACP, praised the board’s decision and said there are two issues with having armed personnel in the schools.
One issue, he said, is a SRO program would indicate there’s a crisis in the school district, which he believes doesn’t exist.
The other issue is a larger one in society. He said there’s a general fear of law enforcement in many minority communities, although he said he believes the New Rochelle Police Department has done a good job of reaching out to the African American population in the city.
“Law enforcement presence disproportionately and negatively impacts Hispanic and African American males,” McLean said. “I know from my experience as a young, black man in the projects, I was routinely stalked by law enforcement. It’s just part of life. Schools have always been a safe haven where you didn’t have to interact with police.”
Almost everyone who spoke during Tuesday’s meeting spoke out against SROs before the board voted and applauded its decision after.
