DA, SCHOOL POLICE WORK OUT NEW POLICY

Gwinnett Officers Would Report Every Drug Case To Porter's Office

Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter began reviewing a proposal
Wednesday from county school officials to give his office "greater
notification" of student crimes and give school police more discretion to
make arrests.

The proposal would replace a longtime verbal agreement between the district
attorney's office and Gwinnett County Schools that had exempted students
from being prosecuted for misdemeanor drug possession.

After a first glance at the proposed agreement, during a meeting with
Associate Superintendent Don Fielder and schools Police Chief Wendall Wayne
Rikard, Porter said he was "generally satisfied" with the draft.

Porter has accused Gwinnett schools officials of abusing the original
agreement last month when information provided by The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution revealed that serious drug cases --- including one of
a Central Gwinnett High student caught selling marijuana in a restroom ---
had not been referred to the district attorney for prosecution.

Under the proposed agreement, school police would notify the district
attorney's office of every drug case, including first offenders caught with
less than 1 ounce of marijuana, and would perform duties outside the
requirements of the law.

The draft sets up to a 72-hour deadline for school police to notify the
district attorney of reportable incidents; creates a log and fax record to
show that cases were properly forwarded; and establishes procedures to
notify the district attorney about crimes, even when there is no known suspect.

"We just want him to know if something has occurred, even though we don't
have a student suspect at the time, so if he hears about it, it will make
sense to him," Fielder said.

"All I wanted out of this was greater notification," Porter said. "What we
are trying to do is get the maximum amount of notification of instances but
also allow the school police the maximum amount of discretion in whether or
not they charge someone with a crime."

School police have agreed to notify the district attorney of the mandatory
reportable crimes, including aggravated battery, sexual incidents, weapons,
and drug offenses.

First-time drug offenders caught with less than an ounce of marijuana could
be punished in-house by administrators or charged with a crime. The same
process could be applied to first-time alcohol offenders.

"The critical element is that we want to function . . . like every other
municipal police force in the county," Fielder said.

Porter and school officials expect to work out details in the agreement
over the next week, then arrange a meeting to sign the document.

Accurate reporting of student crimes and disciplinary incidents is
essential to the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of
2001, which allows parents to transfer their children out of persistently
dangerous schools, starting in the 2003-04 school year.