Police to be based in high schools
‘Groundbreaking’ scheme for secondaries
Police officers could be based at secondary schools as part of council plans to “address safety issues within school communities”.
Agreement has been reached between the local authority and Police Scotland for eight officers to set up a home in six North Lanarkshire schools.
A decision on the plans was set to be finalised at a council education meeting this week.
The “first phase” of the project would see two officers based in Braidhurst High to cover Taylor High, Brannock High, Our Lady’s High and Dalziel High.
However, the plans are not aimed at any specific concern, but take into evidence the “positive impact police officers can have when interacting with young people”.
The project would be funded jointly by Police Scotland and the local authority, with an overall cost of £320,000.
The education, youth and communities department proposes to use cash from the Scottish attainment challenge fund, subject to confirmation of “an alignment with the Scottish Government’s grant criteria”.
Officers would cover schools during term-time and return to normal shift patterns during school holidays.
The pre-meeting report also revealed the role of the officers will include working closely with teaching staff to deal with current issues and identify emerging issues.
They would also help young people engage in positive behaviour and steer away from anti-social activity and crime; support them to make more positive lifestyle choices, and address issues in a preventative way to deal with tackling bullying, providing regular educational input on drugs, alcohol, internet safety and other relevant issues.
Isabelle Boyd, the council’s assistant chief executive for education, youth and communities, said: “The proposed introduction of a new partnership with Police Scotland represents a positive step for our schools and communities.
“It is one of many innovative strategies to build support, and we believe it is good news for pupils, staff and parents and carers.
“As part of our vision, we are committed to putting schools at the heart of the communities we serve and the support of all our community planning partners is essential to this.
“Police Scotland will have a key role to play in the development, promoting community safety and helping young people engage in positive behaviour.
“This groundbreaking scheme will be implemented in all our secondary schools.”
Superintendent Rob Hay, leading the partnership, added: “This is a pilot scheme and my vision for this is that the officers will perform a really integral role and be part of the team in the school.
“This gives us a good opportunity to put more preventative measures in place as, a lot of the time, when police become involved in incidents it is usually due to issues which go much further back, so we are treating the symptoms rather than finding a cure.”