POLICE IN SCHOOLS AN IDEA WITH MERIT

If we want youths to learn about responsibility, respecting authority
and getting along with each other, schools can play an important role
in helping parents teach those lessons.

So, too, can the police.

The Edmonton Police Service has had resource officers in city public
and separate schools since 1979. The program began with four high
schools, but has since expanded to 14 of the city's 18 high schools.

Mayoral candidate Robert Noce promises to bring officers to the
remaining four schools at a total cost of about $300,000 per year,
which is split between the schools and the police department.

It's part of Noce's larger campaign promise to hire 100 more police
officers. While a larger police force won't necessarily make Edmonton
streets safer, making more resource officers available to schools is a
good idea.

The officers' objective is to create a safe and caring place to learn
- - a goal that requires them to be a law enforcer, counsellor,
teacher, administrator, coach, mentor and a friend to students. They
can help students with everything from leaving an abusive home to
dealing with bullies in a non-violent way.

While no one wants to see armed police patrolling school corridors or
harassing students for misdemeanours, the officers' very presence can
be a positive influence, fostering respect for authority and
preventing gangs from forming in the schools - resulting in long-term
savings for taxpayers.

Most principals welcome the police presence, but Strathcona high
school has declined. Principal Rosalind Smith says her school is safe
enough without one and that, given all the cost pressures, it has
better things to spend its money on.

Kevin Stevenson, a principal in leadership services for the Edmonton
Public School Board and a former school principal, says the school
resource officer program is "very valuable."

It's up to individual principals to decide whether they want a school
resource officer.

But at a time when finances are tight, the fact that so many schools
are choosing to include resource officers in their budget speaks to
the program's worth, Stevenson said.

City police play other roles in education, including the D.A.R.E.
(Drug Abuse and Resistance Education) and Bully Busters programs in
elementary schools, PARTY (Prevent

Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth) - a one-day program at the
Misericordia Hospital aimed at helping Grade 9 students make
responsible lifestyle choices - to programs discouraging street
racing and drunk driving.

Edmonton school resource officers have also helped produce a video -
Nothing to Rave About - about the dangerous use of drugs by youths at
all-night dance parties known as raves.

Having police officers in the schools should not absolve teachers of
their responsibility to maintain order in the school and to set and
enforce codes of conduct for students.

The police should be just one more resource available to help enrich
the educational process and to assist impressionable youths in
becoming responsible adults.