Public schools fight crime on campus
by Jennifer Pellant, Outpost contributor
"It's a lot safer this year," said Chelsea Morales, a senior raised in Sparks. "There were a lot more fights my freshman year because there was no one there to stop them."
Washoe County school officials say violence and crime rates have remained steady and are on the decline, attributing it to the nationwide public interest campaign to keep schools safe.
"I have to give credit to increased awareness on a state and local level in reducing crime and violence," said Gil Folk, who oversees school police and investigations as director of administrative services for Washoe County.
The Washoe County School District's mission statement touts a "safe and challenging environment" for every student, and school officials say they're meeting the mission.
"I think school police have been more helpful than ever because it's the real police - Sparks P.D.," said Gina Quiggle, a senior at Reed High.
Students who commit serious infractions with weapons, possession of drugs, battery to staff or students are automatically referred to Folk's office. In the last four years, school crime remains steady and is on the decline despite a growing population of youth, Folk said.
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Official enrollment in Washoe County Schools for the 1997-1998 year was 51,245 with a projected rate for the year 2000 at 59,154. For the last four years, the number of students who commit serious infractions has remained steady and is on the decline.
In 1994, 110 students in Washoe County were reviewed by Folks office for serious infractions but only 47 ended in long-term expulsions or suspensions. Statistics were not available to determine the category of infraction. In 1995, 110 were reviewed and only 36 found guilty. In 1996, 85 were reviewed with only 22 found guilty and in 1997, 106 were reviewed with only 32 cases ending in long term suspension and expulsion.
Though not everyone believes school disruptions have disappeared, most students attribute the decline in crime to increased policing efforts.
"I think it's gone downhill in some ways. There have been break ins and minor thefts," said Danielle Bonasso, a senior student at Reed High. "But I have seen more police on campus all the time and that helps."
Fights on campus have caused the majority of school suspensions and have been a source of trouble for some schools, said Walt Lyman, director of school police and investigations for the district.
"The real concern is not our students," Lyman said. "It's more what is coming on our campuses - suspicious vehicles, individuals and we don't know what we're dealing with."
Although school police receive the same training as Reno, Sparks and Washoe County police officers, officers on school grounds must legally remain unarmed. Communities traditionally have fostered a negative attitude toward the idea of armed school police, Lyman said. But Lyman said the responsibility to protect and enforce requires school police to be equipped with the same tools.
"My personal opinion is that as a police officer, you're bound to uphold certain laws," Lyman said. "With a growing community comes problems and if we don't have the proper tools, then we're opening and subjecting ourselves to certain situations that could be costly," Lyman said.
Washoe County School Board members stirred public interest recently when deciding whether to contract with the Washoe County Sheriff's Department to service local high schools. Nationally, schools are moving to strengthen safety measures on campus by contracting with service industries in the areas of transportation, food, and protection to enable school faculty to focus primarily on education.
For over 20 years, Washoe County high schools have relatively flourished with two officers assigned to each school.
"It seems we've always had this policy," said Folk. "The challenge is that school police want guns, but the district won't give them guns" and this has been the recent area of dispute.
Despite the controversy of whether to hire outside police help or to arm school police, Board members voted to maintain the current structure of safety until a new vote next year.
In the mean time, elementary and middle schools in Washoe County are periodically monitored by a patrol unit consisting of eight officers responding to calls covering a feeder area. The feeder area includes a high school, middle school and elementary school in the same area. And schools still seem to be an honored place, even for a growing gang population, Folk said. Gang activity may occur blocks away from the school, but not on school grounds.
"It's as if they've said, `We'll do it anywhere else, but not at school'," Folk said.
Folk said overall teachers feel secure on school grounds and based this on the minimal number of complaints voiced through the teachers associations the last four years.
"I think one reason we don't see a lot of crime is because they have a good discipline program," said Carol Walters, who has taught special education at Sparks High for three years. "Students get into immature fights, but that's normal."
As the former principal of McQueen, Reno and Wooster High, Folk has seen that the enforcement of safety measures start for Washoe County at the beginning of each new year. Principals meet with parents to stress the importance of safety. There is also an advisory group made up of the principal, teachers and parents who work to develop school policies on safety. The advisory group has been effective at least in one area of concern with students who bring their backpacks, full of disruptive items, to class.
"You'll find everything from junk to illegal stuff," Folk said, "Some kids carry knives or bottles that give off the smell."
This disruptive activity, which may not be criminal, led advisory groups to adopt the policy that backpacks would not be allowed in class, Folk said. In return, students have a chance to return to their locker a few extra times a day.
If local policies have helped, national events in towns like Springfield, Oregon also bring benefit to local communities by earmarking schools as a place where safety should be expected in our communities, Folk said.
The National School Safety Center located in West Lake Village California, raises awareness for parents and school officials, provides training and professional consultants when schools need safety plans to make their schools safer. The center conducts site assessments, produces publications for school personnel and law enforcement who work with youth, said Karen Whitney, executive assistant to Dr. Stephens who founded the center.
Based on the 1996 FBI crime reports of violent crimes juvenile crime peaked in 1994-1996 with those statistics decreasing for juvenile crime in 1997 and 1998.
According to a sample of 1,234 schools in all 50 states and British Columbia, crime nationwide is down. The report by the Department of Education, Violence and Discipline Problems In The Schools 1996-1997, showed 4,000 incidents of rape/sexual battery in our nations schools, 11,000 physical attacks with weapons, 7,000 robberies in schools, 115,000 thefts, 98,000 incidents of vandalism and the highest number of incidents reported 190,000 physical attacks not involving weapons.
When asked what affect the national emphasis on safe schools has had on this decline, Dr. Marjorie Walsleben, Associate Editor of the Publication arm of the National School of Safety said there wasn't a magic bullet solution.
"I think its a joined effort of police in schools, weapons detectors, conflict resolution classes, school uniforms, and a whole lot of things combined," Walsleben said.
"But the last thing you would want to do is suddenly stop everything and say, 'Okay, it's fixed.' Schools and children are with us for the rest of life on earth."
Walsleben said that most of the federal policies and funds cannot help what is done locally.
"We are trying to put out the message that schooling is a local issue," Walsleben said. "Safety comes from the local level and every community in which there is a school has to stay on top of it and what's happening with their community."
Walsleben said that nationally and locally people must realize that school safety is not something that is fixed once and for all, but must continue to be an emphasis for our communities.
Posted Aug. 26,
1999
Copyright 1999, Nevada Outpost
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