Saanich urges District 61 to bring police officers back to schools

The District of Saanich is adding its voice to a growing chorus calling for the return of police-liaison officers in the Greater Victoria School District 61.

Council voted unanimously Monday night to have Mayor Dean Murdock write a letter to the head of the Greater Victoria School District requesting reinstatement of the program.

Copies of the letter will be sent to the province, First Nations and the neighbouring municipalities of Oak Bay, Victoria, Esquimalt and View Royal that have schools in the district

Coun. Susan Brice said Saanich has a unique perspective, as the district is served by both the Greater Victoria School District 61 and Saanich School District 63, which still has school-liaison officers.

“As a community, we have seen the value of the police school-liaison officers and are hoping that the children of our community who happen to be in District 61 would be able to be assisted and aided in the same manner that the children in our district from District 63 are able to,” Brice said.

“I am concerned for the families that are on the portion of the municipality that do not have this service. I do think a voice coming from Saanich council and our mayor would add to the understanding of [school trustees].”

Brice said she has seen up close the impact of the school liaison officers, as a family friend has a child caught up in the world of drugs.

“I would hate to think what this family would have gone through had they not been supported in this fulsome way with our department,” she said.

The Greater Victoria School Board voted unanimously last year to end its police officer schoolliaison program. The move was opposed by both Victoria and Saanich chiefs of police, who warned gangs are recruiting in local schools.

At the time, school board chair Nicole Duncan said trustees had to consider the “trauma and harm” that police presence can mean for some students, including those who are Black and Indigenous.

The decision followed a 2022 letter to the B.C. School Trustees Association from B.C. human rights commissioner Kasari Govender recommending that school-liaison officers no longer be posted at schools until the need for them can be proven.

Coun. Colin Plant, a teacher, said the onus should be on opponents to prove “why they shouldn’t be there.”

Plant said he has never heard a parent, student, staff member or community member say that they didn’t want police in the school.

“If we do need to ensure the safety and the mental well-being of those students who have been identified by commissioner Govender, I think there’s a better way to do that than simply cancelling the entire program.”

A member of Parents and Police Together, a community group advocating for the return of the program, called Saanich council’s stance “wonderful news to wake up to.”

“I’m happy,” said Lori Poppe, who has sons in Grade 7 and Grade 3. “I’m not sure where things will go, but the more support with the higher-ups the better.”

The group is planning a rally Thursday to back the program before the Greater Victoria School District’s scheduled public budget meeting at Spectrum Community School. The rally is set to start at 5 p.m., and the budget meeting begins at 6 p.m. Parents and Police Together previously held a rally on the issue Feb. 26 at the school district office on Boleskine Road.

Education Minister Rachna Singh said Tuesday that her ministry is aware of community concern about the decision to cut the program, and has called on the Greater Victoria School Board to engage in more communication about the issue.

“That’s really what we’ve wanted, is some open dialogue,” Poppe said.

The program hasn’t been run by Victoria police since 2018 due to budget shortfalls, but Police Chief Del Manak — a former schoolliaison officer himself — has said he would like it to be reinstated.