New security plan may remove police officers from Tacoma schools. What you need to know
Tacoma Public Schools is considering a change to its security plan that would remove police officers from campuses and instead have them on call for emergencies.
The proposal follows a months-long examination of the district’s safety and security plan after a number of people, including the teachers’ union, advocated for the removal of police officers on high school campuses.
“Last year we had two significant incidents that came to light in which police officers were charged with using excessive force: Nationally, the tragic and unnecessary death of George Floyd in Minneapolis during an arrest began a flashpoint in our country, and locally, the news of the death of Manny Ellis during an arrest led to similar questions about police tactics,” Superintendent on Special Assignment Carla Santorno said at Thursday’s school board meeting.
The incidents sparked conversation around whether armed police officers should be at schools.
Tacoma Public Schools contracts with the Tacoma Police Department for five school resource officers to work at each high school campus and one supervising sergeant. SROs are employed by the Tacoma Police Department, are armed and wear police uniforms.
That $2 million contract expires this year, and the district seeks to have a revised contract in place for the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
The proposed change would call for two Tacoma Police Department officers rather than five, called “school liaisons.” Instead of being stationed at each high school, they would be on call to travel to schools in the event they’re needed for a situation.
With fewer officers under the new proposal, a new contract with TPD is expected to cost less, said district spokesperson Dan Voelpel, but nothing is set in stone and the district is still collaborating with TPD.
Aside from SROs, the district is also proposing changes to other security measures.
Currently, Tacoma Public Schools has seven school patrol officers, who are responsible for patrolling the district and responding where they are needed. SPOs are employed by the district, unarmed and wear police-style uniforms.
The district proposes changing that to two campus support specialists and four Campus Safety Officers II.
These positions, which do not currently exist, act as first responders and would be the first to respond to on-campus conduct that may have a safety or security element.
The new internal positions would be subject to labor negotiations with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302, which represents internal district security staff.
Right now, the district also employs 25 CSOs that are assigned to middle and high schools. CSOs are employed by the school district, unarmed and do not wear police uniforms. They are expected to respond promptly to situations before they escalate. Santorno suggests continuing that program.
“Throughout this process we remained committed to ensuring our high school and other students feel safe and secure at school so it is a positive learning environment with safety and security of students and staff as our highest priority,” Santorno said in a statement Thursday.
