Daily Herald opinion: Installing officers in grade schools has real value - if the mission is clear and positive
In today's precarious school safety environment, there is a case to be made for installing uniformed police officers even in middle and elementary schools as an added layer of protection for young students.
But in a bid to add officers at two Arlington Heights middle schools, Police Chief Nick Pecora states the case in a more fundamental sociological context.
"I want to build bridges. I want to get that rapport back out there and make those connections," Pecora told the Arlington Heights Elementary Dist. 25 school board.
Pecora is seeking board approval to share the cost of adding resource officers at each of Dist. 25's two middle schools to supplement the pair of officers who already split their time among the district's nine school buildings as well as other public and private schools in the village.
Safety is a factor, naturally, in an era when attacks on schoolchildren make headlines all too frequently. But Pecora's case goes beyond being prepared for a single event. It really goes to the heart of policing itself and the need for "those connections" that build trust between communities and police.
The chief is working with Dist. 25 Superintendent Lori Bein to develop a job description for the two officers that, among other practical concerns, focuses on safety classes, helping school staff provide mental health interventions and leading parent education programs. These are important considerations, but their real value is in helping students recognize police not just as authority figures but as, as the title states, "resources" - people who can be called on to help when one's security is threatened or uncertain.
Too often, at all levels of society, we view police as authorities who give us speeding tickets or stop underage drinking or arrest people for myriad disruptive and dangerous crimes. Such activities are not to be understated, of course. They're often important and can be keys to protection in times of crisis. But seeing police only in such roles overlooks the more common foundational role officers play in minimizing disputes, helping solve personal problems and clearing obstacles to the smooth, safe running of our communities.
By having the chance to see officers consistently interacting in these positive, supportive ways, students build images that can lead to more constructive interactions with police throughout their lives.
Some critics raise legitimate concerns that it can be counterproductive to turn resource officers into roving enforcement personnel looking for reasons to intimidate kids, catch them doing bad things and instill fear of the police, as if that is what equates to respect. The true benefit of having police at schools is quite the opposite.
Numerous suburban elementary and middle schools have begun introducing police resource officers into their buildings. Wheeling Township Elementary Dist. 21 completed an agreement in March for officers in Buffalo Grove and Wheeling. Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson is pressing to add officers at schools in Elementary Dist. 59. Other districts have had officers for some time or are considering them.
We may tend to see this trend as a sign of the changing elementary school environment - not just the increased risks of violence from outside, but also the many ways that everyday life provides more difficult challenges for children and adolescents, from social media bullying to ease of access to drugs and alcohol to adult themes in entertainment and beyond, all of which can lead to demands for stepped up oversight. But oversight is just a small portion of what our kids really need.
Making "those connections" that Pecora and others talk about is what will have lasting value and what should be the core mission of all such programs.