PLATTSBURGH NY Sept 9 2020— City councilors unanimously voted down a contract that would have provided two school resource officers (SROs) to the Plattsburgh City School District for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Most vocal against the measure was Councilor Patrick McFarlin (D-Ward 5), who had previously voted “no” on the item in both 2018 and 2019.

“In my opinion, there is absolutely no reason for police officers to be in schools,” he told fellow councilors at Thursday’s regular meeting.

Plattsburgh City Police has provided the SROs to the district — which has covered their annual salary and benefit costs — since the 2018-2019 school year.

Chief Levi Ritter explained to councilors that concerns had arisen following the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in which 17 people were killed and 17 more were injured.

Subsequent community engagement forums ultimately led the district to explore contracting with City Police for SROs.

Ritter said they found the cost of working with the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office instead would have been more expensive — which he attributed to differences in the way that department contracts — and that the school board had also considered its existing relationship with City Police.

The district found an SRO contract that fit what it was looking for, and tailored it to dictate officers’ duties and the times they would be present at the five schools.

They were not to exercise traditional police functions or wear traditional police uniforms — they donned polo shirts and khaki pants — and the district requested that the officers be armed, the chief added.

“They were there to be a safeguard, if you will.”

City Chamberlain Richard Marx said the two SROs were retired officers. Their salaries and benefits total about $81,000, which is fully reimbursed by the district at $6,759 per month.

Those payments are roughly two months behind, he added, but the city gets them consistently.

McFarlin argued that even well-meaning school resource officers do not provide the right culture for schools.

He cited statistics stating that, in schools with SROs, the number of arrests is five times higher and students of color and with disabilities are more likely to be arrested than those who are white and do not have disabilities.

“The data shows that schools with school resource officers do not have less crime, thefts do not go down, the amount of crimes goes up, but that’s the amount of reported crimes because they actually find more contraband and things of that nature.

“It does not make our schools more safe and it certainly does not help our students.”

McFarlin further posited that having police in schools associates students with the criminal justice system earlier “which is commonly referred to as the school-to-prison pipeline,” and that police officers’ presence leads to a change in schools’ disciplinary policies as they rely more and more on the officers.

Ritter said the SROs had not made any student arrests, as that is not what they do.

He later told The Press-Republican that, when it comes to referral capacity in coordinating with City Police, the SROs work at the direction of the building principal.

“Any referral would be at the direction of school administration. They are merely a conduit for quicker response at the direction of the school administration.”

Ritter further stated at the meeting that SROs improve communications between the police department, school administration and support staff, and assist with fire drills and drop-off/pickup of students.

Administrators have also told the chief that, when school buildings were shut down due to COVID-19, SROs helped the district provide outreach to students who were not responding to distance learning.

Ritter shared comments from principals of the district’s secondary schools stating the SROs have worked well with students, staff and parents, and had established numerous positive relationships.

“Our students and staff feel safe, and know they can go to these officers for anything that they need,” he read.

In August 2019, Councilor Elizabeth Gibbs (D-Ward 3) voted to approve the 2019-2020 SRO contract.

She told The Press-Republican Monday that there were several reasons for her shift in perspective, including remaining questions regarding liability should there be an SRO-involved incident and to whom the SRO is accountable.

“We also questioned the sound educational basis of placing cops in schools, which has been discussed widely on the national level, not just our small municipality. Certainly the city school district can allocate those funds towards services for children in the district, which is a pro-active investment, rather than an officer, which is a reactive investment.”

Gibbs contended the Common Council was placed in an awkward position where “we are, in essence, becoming the personnel department for the school district’s desire for an SRO.”

“Any ‘no’ votes are bound to be politicized, and that is unfair of any entity to ask of us,” she said.

Gibbs added that the vote does not prohibit the district from obtaining an SRO and that, like other school districts, they could negotiate directly with a law enforcement entity.

Plattsburgh CSD Superintendent of Schools Jay Lebrun said the district was very surprised to learn about the council’s decision, “as we had received no questions or concerns about the matter from any city representative.”

Though the focus is on next week’s reopening of schools, the topic will be added to the Board of Education’s September meeting for discussion, he added.

“From the district’s perspective, the SRO initiative has been very successful. Whereas the initial discussions about the merit of the SROs centered upon defense and deterrence of active shooters, the real value of this role has definitely emerged as student engagement, relationship building, early-identification of students in distress and outreach with parents and social services agencies.

“From the district’s perspective, school resource officers represent an excellent example of proactive, relationship-based, community policing,” Lebrun continued.

“Parent and student feedback about the presence of SROs in our buildings has been positive, and with no cost to the city, I would hope that the Common Council might revisit this decision.

pressrepublican.com

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