A Baltimore school officer was recently caught on video kicking and slapping a student on the steps just outside the school building. Even though officials investigating this incident say they are appalled and do not allow this conduct, at least one student leader says not enough is being done to stop it.
According to the Baltimore Sun, it‘s only been a year since there was “an altercation between a female school officer and three female students at a middle school," and since then “students and advocates have been calling for change.” In that case the officer resigned after pleading guilty to second-degree assault, adds the report.
Pontious, a 17-year-old senior at Baltimore City College High School and a core member of the student-led activist group City Bloc, said the school system has not been transparent about its efforts to improve officers’ conduct.
"Even though we've had a lot of meetings, a lot of input, a lot of discussions with the school system, we've still seen very little training that school police get, and very little accountability," he said. He added that he believed the Department of Justice should be conducting a separate investigation.
Sign this petition to ask school police union president Sergeant Clyde Boatwright to see to it that all school officers are properly trained in how to de-escalate problem situations without using violence against students.
To Sergeant Boatwright:
The video of this incident of the school officer kicking and slapping a student has been adequately described as appalling by school officials who seem to be taking this conduct very seriously.
However the voice that stands out, among all those commenting on the violence against whom an investigation confirmed was a student at the school, is the 17-year-old student leader identified as Pontious by the Baltimore Sun. The paper says his first reaction on seeing the video was “not again.”
Pontious is basically saying despite what went on before - the criminal assault by a school officer and her resignation - and all the discussions and concerns that followed - this kind of violence has been repeated.
But Pontious is not the only one calling for better training of school officers and a DOJ investigation.
The Sun report says that Education and Youth Development director Karen Webber “called for better training of school police officers in de-escalation and conflict resolution.” And the report adds that the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund wants the Department of Justice to include the school police department in its investigation of the Baltimore Police Department.
Therefore, I the undersigned, agree with the student leader and these advocates and insist the school police department train its officers to properly de-escalate problem situations and end this violence against students. Should the violence continue, a DOJ investigation should be required.
Thanks for your time.
