ACLU wants officers out of Missouri schools, Joplin Police disagree

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri wants school districts to remove police officers from schools. They have been circulating a letter to nine school administrators, mostly in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.

The ACLU says money spent on school resource officers should instead go to the social-emotional needs of children, such as by hiring more social workers and counselors.

Joplin Police Captain William Davis tells KZRG that taking school resource officers away would be a bad idea. “It is very disappointing to see that push coming to Missouri. We pride ourselves on the work that our SRO’s do here in Joplin. They do a phenomenal job in working with the students and the teachers and the school district to make sure there is a safe environment for our students here in Joplin.”

Luz Maria Henriquez, executive director of ACLU Missouri, said there is “no evidence that increased police presence in schools improves school safety.”

Captain Davis disagrees. “Having a police officer on site in the event that an incident takes place just eliminates that response time gap that another officer out there working the street would have to respond or clear another call in order to respond to a school to handle a particular incident,” says Davis. “School resource officers are there on scene and they receive specialized training in how to respond to specific events within the school. We think they are a great asset–tremendous asset–not only to the police department, but to the schools and the community.”

Davis says they do so much more than just protect students. “School resource officers help bridge that gap with the younger kids to help build that trust between law enforcement and youth so that they don’t grow up being fearful of law enforcement knowing that we are there to help them and assist them.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article