Letter of the Day | Time to do away with school resource officers

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) recently announced on its Force4Good podcast that more school resource officers (SROs) will be deployed for the upcoming academic term. For those unfamiliar with the programme, SROs are police officers assigned to visit schools, generally once or twice per week, to help foster positive relationships and discipline among students under the Safe Schools Programme.

Given that SROs were initially deployed primarily to “troubled” schools, it is unsurprising that interactions between students and police officers may sometimes be strained. Jamaica’s approach was influenced by Canada’s policiers-éducateurs (police-educators) model, which began in 1966 through the work of Sergeant Claude Labelle.

However, international experience with SRO programmes raises concerns about ‘mission creep’, where an officer’s role expands from school safety into student discipline and enforcement of school policies. This is often compounded by unclear guidelines defining SRO responsibilities, including mentoring, counselling and crime prevention.

Police officers are not necessarily trained to perform counselling, teaching or other non-law enforcement functions. Research has also raised concerns that marginalised students can disproportionately experience the consequences of increased police presence, particularly when SROs become involved in punitive or disciplinary matters.

This raises a fundamental question: What data does the Ministry of National Security and the JCF have to demonstrate that students’ rights are being protected and not infringed by SROs?

Only months ago, there was a viral JUTC video circulating involving a young female student and an off-duty police officer who instructed the child to leave the public bus after deeming her behaviour insolent. The incident raised questions about police authority in interactions with children and whether such responses are proportionate, lawful and appropriate.

What safeguards exist to assure parents, students and the wider public that SROs are acting within the law and clearly defined boundaries? The blurred boundaries surrounding SRO responsibilities do not sit comfortably alongside the goal of building positive relationships with children.

It is time for Jamaica to reconsider SROs. Canada provides an important example: the Toronto District School Board, Canada’s largest school board, voted 18 to three in November 2017 to end its SRO programme after a survey found that some racialised and marginalised students felt uncomfortable, targeted and intimidated by uniformed, armed officers.

Discipline and structure can coexist without subjecting children to a quasi-police state.

FI WE CHILDREN FOUNDATION

info@fiwechildren.org