Edmonton resource officer program needs review: trustee

EDMONTON An Edmonton Public Schools trustee plans to call for an independent review of the school resource officer (SRO) program following questions over the role of armed police in schools.

Trustee Bridget Stirling said she will move for the review at Tuesday’s school board meeting, adding she will also ask for the SRO program to be suspended in the meantime.

“We haven’t really conducted a substantial review of the program, as far as I understand, in the entire time of its existence,” Stirling said Monday. “We don’t receive any reporting, we have no oversight, we don’t know most of the data, and we don’t know the backgrounds of the officers.

“We don’t receive that information, but we pay a million dollars a year for (the program),” she said.

The program, which has been around for more than 40 years, sees 29 officers deployed to dozens of schools across the city.

Police say the program is crucial for school safety and helps officers and students build relationships. But critics say school resource officer programs can be intimidating and lead to the criminalization of young people, particularly Black and Indigenous students.

Edmonton police have had a formal presence in schools since 1979, when they entered into an agreement with both the public and Catholic school boards to start the SRO program.

SROS are now in 36 schools where they give lectures on health and safety topics, run crime prevention and extracurricular programs and, in some cases, investigate crimes.

Edmonton schools faced questions about the SRO program in 2017, after Toronto public schools voted to cancel its SRO program over concerns it made marginalized students feel vulnerable. At the time, Edmonton public and Catholic schools issued statements of support for the local programs, with the latter saying it was “impossible

to imagine” Edmonton Catholic schools without SROS.

In a statement Monday, Edmonton Catholic board chairwoman Laura Thibert said “our board is very supportive of the school resource officer program.”

Stirling put forward a motion June 9 requesting more information about SROS after receiving “a huge number of emails ... raising questions and concerns about the program.”

In particular, she requested information about program funding and data collection, as well as the outcomes of interactions with students. She also wants more details on SROS who have been disciplined for professional misconduct.

“There’s a lot of data that Edmonton police seem to hold on the program that isn’t shared with the board,” she said.

Stirling said any review of SRO programs should have a “special focus” on the experiences of students of colour, LGBTQ students and students with disabilities.

School boards pay around 40 per cent of each officer’s salary.

During a recent address to city council defending the police budget, Edmonton police Chief Dale Mcfee said police are in schools “because it costs a lot more not to be,” and because “we’ve been invited by our partners” in the education system.

About two per cent of the roughly 3,000 police files SROS generate each year result in some kind of charge.

Acting Staff Sgt. Em Chan with the EPS school resource officer section told Postmedia charges can be under the Criminal Code or a variety of provincial acts and local bylaws. He said in an email that officers try to keep students out of the justice system through diversion programs when possible.

He added without SROS, more school-related files could end up being handed to patrol officers, “who may not always be inclined to, or invested in working with youth, and the charge numbers for youth could predictably rise.” With files from Anna Junker