Cops in schools are helpful with clear guidance

Arecent debate in the Worthington City School District about putting police officers in high schools is instructive for anyone interested in safer schools and healthier kids.

We think the board of education made the right move by voting to create positions for a school resource officer at each of the district’s two high schools. But critics of the idea raised important concerns that district officials should bear in mind when deciding how to use the officers.

The key to addressing those concerns is in finding the right people to serve as resource officers and setting clear expectations for what they will and won’t do. The skills and abilities that best serve a school resource officer aren’t the same as those needed most often by a beat cop.

High-school principals in Franklin County districts that have resource officers (most do) generally say their greatest effect is preventive. By getting to know kids and teachers, an officer can have a better idea what’s really happening beneath the surface of a hallway dispute or kid acting out and thus respond appropriately.

Their presence alone can tamp down a youthful inclination to make trouble.

And, of course, if a truly violent or dangerous situation develops, having an armed police officer on site is invaluable.

The greatest value, school officials say, is the opportunity for teens to get to know a police officer as a friend and helper. For kids from neighborhoods where police are seen as a hostile occupation force, those relationships at this pivotal time in a young person’s development could change the course of an at-risk kid’s life.

Critics rightly worry that school officials might allow what should be school disciplinary matters to become criminal cases, with students getting arrested for minor infractions. Troubled teenagers who could benefit from personal attention and counseling could instead be subjected to the criminaljustice system and have their problems multiplied by the complication of a criminal record.

There certainly are anecdotes of such incidents, and critics say the danger is greater with students who aren’t white or who have disabilities.

Only clear guidelines and careful selection of resource officers can guard against such bad outcomes. Worthington and other school districts that use resource officers should consult with experts on how best to choose, train and support a school cop. Special training is required; the kind of force police officers are taught to use on a resistant suspect is radically different from the counseling and de-escalating techniques appropriate for educators.

What people shouldn’t expect from a school resource officer is a guarantee against school shootings. Some of the worst tragedies, including the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, happened with armed guards present. Short of windowless fortresses with police at every entrance and exit, schools and other public places always will be vulnerable to a determined killer with enough firepower.

Even if some who favor more school resource officers do so with mass shootings in mind, that misguided motivation doesn’t cancel the valid reasons for having them.

As long as resource officers are well-trained to be partners in education first and law enforcers only when absolutely necessary, their presence will make schools safer and communities stronger.