UPTICK IN CRIME PUSHES SCHOOLS TO BRING COPS BACK TO CAMPUS 3 YEARS AFTER #DEFUNDTHEPOLICE

There were sweeping calls to Defund The Police in 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. The calls prompted the removal of school resource officers across the country, via Education Week. But three years later, it appears many campuses are changing their mind.

In the last year or so, schools across the country have voted to reinstate the resource officers they axed amid the racial climate of 2020. Montgomery County, Maryland decided to bring back school officers after seeing an increase in crime throughout their schools, Fox News reports.

A school district in Alexandria, Virginia, saw a jump in violent fights, which some blamed on the Alexandria City Council voting to do away with the officers in the spring of 2021.

“I think what you’re seeing and the reaction from these school districts is exactly what we’re seeing in almost every major city in this country: Everybody’s having buyer’s remorse for defunding the police,” Fraternal Order of Police National Vice President Joe Gamaldi said in February 2022.

“WE HAD 16 AMERICAN CITIES LAST YEAR HAVE THEIR HIGHEST MURDER RATES IN RECORDED HISTORY, AND NOW PEOPLE ARE QUICKLY BACKTRACKING AND REALIZING THAT POLICE OFFICERS PROVIDE SAFETY IN OUR COMMUNITIES.”

Most recently, Pheonix Union High School District voted to bring back resource officers on campus after a state superintendent announced a grant to fund the officers, AZ Family reports. It also came in response to the mass shootings plaguing schools and places of business across the country.

“Take no action on the security plan. There’ve been many massacres around the country and what about Texas, there was an army of police officers who did nothing. What we need is resources,” said Berta Rita, a parent of a student.

Parts of California are also debating whether or not they should bring back the school resource officers they did away with in 2020, via California City News and Sonoma News.

While debates around the need for school resource officers continue, there remain debates around the misconduct and corruption taking place in police departments nationwide, as noted by CBS8.