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BPS considers arming school police with pepper spray
By adamg on Mon, 10/27/2014 - 6:15pm
BPS officials are holding a series of meetings to discuss the possibility with parents. School Police officers do not carry guns.
The intent to develop an OC/pepper spray policy has been in the police officers’ contract for several years. Officers do not currently carry it because we would need to develop clear guidelines around training and use protocols first. BPS wants to know what students, families and staff think before developing a draft policy. ...
The number of in-school arrests has dropped from 462 in the 2005-2006 school year to 153 in the 2013-2014 school year. Last year BPS invested $1.4 million for new security cameras, card readers and other security measures for schools. The District will invest an additional $1 million this year for security upgrades. Last year the District upgraded the Boston School Police radio system to allow them to directly connect to Boston Police dispatch.
Although these upgrades are important, Boston School Police have raised concerns about their ability to fully confront a threat if it ever exists inside a school and have requested that officers be allowed to carry pepper spray after receiving extensive training. We believe that any policies relative to pepper spray must include clear guidelines for training and possible use.
The meetings:
- Monday, October 27, 6 PM - 8 PM at English High School Auditorium, 144 McBride St., Jamaica Plain
- Wednesday, October 29, 6 PM - 8 PM at TechBoston Academy Auditorium, 9 Peacevale Rd., Dorchester
- Thursday, November 6, 6 PM - 8 PM at Hyde Park Education Complex Auditorium, 655 Metropolitan Ave.
- Thursday, November 13, 6 PM - 8 PM at West Roxbury Education Complex Auditorium, 1205 VFW Parkway
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Comments
Pepper spray oh the horror!!!
Pepper spray oh the horror!!! The horror!!!!
They will use it all the time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlY9C6pzxKc
ZOMG! 100% OF ADULTS CAN
ZOMG! 100% OF ADULTS CAN NEVER BE RESPONSIBLE OR ANYTHING SO LETS BAN EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE FOR ALL TIME!
You have kids in school, Anon?
I would guess not.
If you did, you might be more suspicious about "adult" in this context - schools can be most infantalizing of everyone they come in contact with. Administrators complain that parents don't do their jobs - and, then, they won't let us even decide whether our sick kids need to go to the doctor or how our children get to and from school.
You think school employees are rewarded for exercising individual judgement? Do you think your average school security guard winds up in that job by exhibiting independent adult judgement? Do you think such a person would last long?
Our local principals fired the security guards that were foolishly hired after 9/11. Why? Because they were useless patronage hires and turned out to be a bunch of bullies and drunks. Not saying that Boston's school guards are not more professional, just saying that my experience with such people in the schools leads me to suspect that "adult judgment" cannot be assumed to be in evidence.
See also: bullshit that goes on in the dedicated School to Prison states like Florida, where a girl had her surgically-implanted insulin pump ripped from her body because some goon decided it was a cell phone and wouldn't listen when she said it wasn't.
See also: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/18/16590086-school-security-guar...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/14/1209057/-School-security-guard-...
and what, dear swirl, would you do if...
"You think school employees are rewarded for exercising individual judgement? Do you think your average school security guard winds up in that job by exhibiting independent adult judgement?"
And if said employee exercised any independent adult judgement and even slightly fucked up or didn't handle it in the best way according to a bunch of people Monday morning quarterbacking based off the extremely reliable and accurate accounts provided by children...
....you'd be the first in line for a public meeting to demand they be fired. Schools are "by the book" because it's the only defense against asshole busybody knowitall parents.
just saying that my
You are the same person who's said on here multiple times that cyclists should defend themselves with u-locks. Last week, you talked about sticking an umbrella into wheel spokes to thwart armed robberies. If there's any adult judgment that should be taken with a grain of salt -- especially if we're talking about security practices or defense -- it's yours.
dailykos
No further questions...
BPS has uniformed police
BPS has uniformed police officers. This isn't some small town hiring anyone as a "guard."
Here is what your missing...
Here is what your missing...
School police have a right to go home after work. If your child carries a knife too even the score with a rival, he may use it. Would you rather your child be sprayed with pepper spray and subdued or beat to a pulp until he drops the knife by the police professional. It not as though the pepper spray is going to become the alternative. But you all think that school police officer's are trained monkeys with no since of responsibility.
What could possibly go wrong?
http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/11/23/pepper-spraying-cop-and-...
Pepper spray is an escalator.
More like a zesty condiment
More like a zesty condiment
funny but also scary
It's easy to laugh off pepper spray, but kids from that photo had to be hospitalized.
153 in-school arrests
How many students have been arrested going to and from school and how many students have been maced by BPD,MSP and the Transit Police?
That 153 figure is not so
That 153 figure is not so much a drop as a different way of recording and processing the same crap that would have got you arrested a few years ago. As a classroom teacher I have been assaulted - a kid took a swing at me and tossed a desk. I witnessed an admin get hit with a chair and saw a girl get stomped by circle of peers - none of these resulted in an arrest as they would in the "real world". When the kid hit me the admins told me I could file charges, but verbally made it clear that would be a bad idea for all concerned. Too many arrests and suspensions draw heat on a school, so they've chosen to just deal with the wildin' out.
Pepper spray in a tight crowded space such as a hallway or classrooms doesn't sound like the best idea really. A tazer would be a better fit. The real gang kids all know that you fight outside of school anyways so nobody will break it up and you can put it on Worldstar!
"The solution to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"
If, as we hear so often, the solution to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, and if the vast majority of students (like the vast majority of everyone else) are the good guys, it follows that we could improve school safety by arming every student. Instead of spending money on metal detectors and armed guards, we could simply put a box of handguns next to the front door, with a sign saying "Every arriving student please take one."
What part of the plan being
What part of the plan being to provide the existing school police (the trained professional good guys) with pepper spray do you not understand?