They aren’t the solution to keep kids completely safe at schools.”įlowers suggested that the money spent on SROs might be better used to hire additional social workers and guidance counselors. “SROs are necessary sometimes … they aren’t the solution to security at the schools. I want my daughter to be protected,’” Flowers said. And they’re like, ‘I want my son to be protected. “A lot of parents are concerned about a lot of craziness going on in the world. He pointed to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February 2018, saying there was a “cop on duty” at the school when the attack happened. “So we think that that should be addressed.”įlowers said that while parents might be concerned about violence in schools- and even about the possibility of active-shooter scenarios- police in schools have not always served to stop such violence. “But a lot of the time, they’re … patrolling the hallways, patrolling the bathrooms, kind of invading … students’ personal space and privacy,” Flowers said. He suggested SROs might be more effective if their scope is limited to the front of schools “at the doors, blocking entrances.” “But we do believe that there are certain times and places where SROs should be.” “We understand that there needs to be security in schools because of the things that have happened in schools over the past few years, longer than the past few years, unfortunately,” Flowers said.

Reached after the meeting, Flowers said policing in city schools is a “delicate issue.” Members included Sara Lugo Golden, Justin Hoekstra, Maggie Veve, Elizabeth Strum, Cheryl Qamar, Rashida Tyler, Nardia Alanahland and Malia Cordel, according to Alim Flowers, a Citizen Action organizer. Kingston school district Superintendent Paul Padalino did not respond to requests for comment about the attorney general’s memo.Ĭitizen Action of New York’s Hudson Valley Chapter gathered a committee in Kingston recently to consider SROs and their role in city schools. “We are there to help the school do what they have to do.”Īdditionally, the chief said, SROs have reduced the number of times additional police are needed in the Kingston schools. “They do not act on anything without the school having input on it,” the chief said. Tinti said Kingston Police Department members assigned as resource officers are “respected, professional, courteous” and “do not act as disciplinarians at the school.” “I believe that positive police officer and student interactions foster trust that can have a long-lasting impact, but I will fully support whatever decision the school board makes,” Noble wrote in an email. Kingston Mayor Steve Noble also supports having SROs in Kingston schools, but said he would defer to any decision made by the Board of Education. I understand it from the perspective of the Attorney General’s Office,” Tinti said, “I can only address what I’ve seen at the local level and only what I’ve seen in Kingston, and I am 100% supportive of having school resource officers – our school resource officers – in the Kingston school district. Kingston police and police across the state were compelled to evaluate their practices beginning in June 2020, in the wake of nationwide protests after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. “We strongly urge you to consider removing all SROs from schools,” she wrote. In her response to the city’s report, James wrote that “jurisdictions across the country have mounted efforts to reduce or eliminate police presence in schools” and recommended Kingston do the same. It recommended an amendment of the current SRO agreement stipulating that children “will not be subject to criminal prosecutions for offenses that represent developmentally appropriate adolescent behaviors.” The agreement between the Kingston Police Department and the school district was presented to the state in the city’s Re-envisioning Public Safety Task Force report, in accordance with an executive order issued last year by Gov. In a 19-page memo issued in March, New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote that “the presence of SROs often perpetuates the same policing inequities that are reflected outside schools, and does not yield a benefit in increased student safety that justifies their continued presence.” Watson Bailey Middle School and said he isn’t inclined to follow through on a state recommendation to remove them. KINGSTON, N.Y. – City Police Chief Egidio Tinti believes his school resource officers, or SROs, are “a positive influence” on youths at Kingston High School and J.

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