Norfolk School Board: End the Contract with the Norfolk Police

The Norfolk Chapter calls on Norfolk Public Schools to end their contract with the Norfolk Police Department, and instead use these funds to hire more social workers. While police can be on speed dial for emergencies, they should not be inside of schools. We are asking for this for the following reasons:

1. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Norfolk Public Schools and Norfolk Police Department is six years old. Before July 1, 2020, cities were required to update and approve the MOU every five years. As of July 1, 2020, the MOU is supposed to be updated every two years (HB 292/SB221).

2. The Norfolk MOU does not distinguish between discipline issues and criminal/civil offenses, nor does it give guidance on Student Resource Officer (SRO) behavior/action.

3. The MOU requires that the program undergo a joint evaluation each year by NPD and NPS. We requested the evaluations from the last five years. They were only able to supply one.

4. We requested a record of the types of arrests conducted by SROs. The document they returned to me suggests that they don’t keep a formal record, as it includes only email responses from the officers. While most SROs report 2-10 arrests each year, one SRO reports “approximately 178 arrests” in the past two years. “One was an assault charge, one was a probation violation, 176 were truancy arrests.”

5. There are already 3-4 security guards (SSO’s) per school in middle school and high school. The schools already have extra security without police presence. Please see the attached document for a full review of research by Ruth Osorio, PhD, and Norfolk Chapter member. Right now, we are looking for people who have direct experience in dealing with School Resource Officers: students, parents, and school staff. If you know of anyone, if your church has youth, or if you are interested in more details about this campaign, please respond to this email.