The last Atlanta Board of Education meeting did not include discussion or action regarding Superintendent Erroll Davis’ proposed police force.
As first reported by WABE in January, since the Newtown, Connecticut, killings, Davis is pushing for the idea to become a reality by the fall school semester.
A police department could mean APS incurring additional legal liabilities.
When APS board chairman Reuben McDaniel talked to WABE about the district’s own police force, he said it was important for the students to have a familiar face around the middle and high schools.
McDaniel believes a dedicated resource officer working full time in a school would forge trusting relationships with the students.
The officer would get to know the students, know the campus and facility layout as well as be “on the district’s schedule,” says the board chairman.
The officer, according to McDaniel, would be around during the mornings, lunchtime and dismissal.
He says that’s when most incidents tend to happen.
Before approving Superintendent Davis’ police force plan, the board will consider startup costs and other implementation factors.
But that’s just the beginning of potential problems, says WABE legal analyst Page Pate.
“Well, having your own police force makes you liable as an entity for any negligence or any intentionally wrong acts that the officers take.”
For example, Pate says arresting a student without sufficient probable cause could land the district in court trying to defend the action.
“Then not only is the officer subject to a lawsuit, but the school board would be as well.”
That’s different from the district’s current contract with the Atlanta Police Department.
As part of an agreement, APS pays the resource officers to work in the schools, but they’re still Atlanta police officers.
Page Pate says accountability weighs more with the police department for any actions taken by the officer.
“If the officer is wrong then perhaps the officer individually or maybe even the entity that he or she is employed, [the] City of Atlanta for instance, could be on the hook for liability.”
Last month, an APS resource officer used a Taser gun on two female middle school students in order to break up a fight on a school bus.
A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department told WABE the incident is still under investigation.
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