Explanation of the April 14 Consensus meeting:
When a League wants to take action, they need to look for a League position to support it. This can be one from LWVUS, their state League which for us is LWVC, or their own local positions. If they do not have one that works, then they need to do a study to create a position that would allow them to act on the issue. As a grassroots organization, that suggestion for a study begins at an annual meeting where the membership will vote whether to do a study based on the need and the interest. Last year both the LWV San Diego and the LWV North County San Diego voted to have a study on policing practices. That study group has been meeting and researching for the past year.
Their work has been displayed in the five reports that have been shared with the members on the Leagues’ websites and in their Voter newsletters. The 5th report, Police in Schools, is now on the two League websites and the summary is in this Voter. Members should read all of the reports or at least the summaries, prior to the consensus meeting on April 14th. A PDF containing all five summaries and links to the reports is available for download.
At the consensus meeting, the committee will be presenting the results of their work along with a set of board-approved consensus statements that reflect the committee’s conclusions. It will be up to the members to attend, listen to the presentation and vote. Only members can vote or participate in the discussion.
Consensus is defined by the League as “getting a sense of the room” rather than a vote. However since we will not be in a room but meeting virtually, we will need to vote. 80% approval was determined by the LWV San Diego board to be a close enough approximation to consensus.
We hope you will read the materials and the consensus statements that are in this edition of the Voter and attend the joint meeting of the two Leagues on April 14th at 5:30 pm. Register ahead of time so that the Zoom link can be sent to you prior to the meeting.
***The recipient of this email is a current member of LWV San Diego.***
Each member will need to connect to Zoom from their own device (in other words, two members in a household using the same computer/tablet for Zoom will not be able to place two votes). Do not share your Zoom login with anyone because each registrant’s membership status must be verified and we can’t have more than one device connecting under your name.
Agenda for April 14 Policing Practices Study Consensus Meeting
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Procedures for consensus
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Presentation/Q&A/voting
Ground Rules For Virtual Meetings
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Online meeting participation etiquette. Please use common group discussion etiquette for online meetings such as respecting others opinions, waiting your turn to speak, and offering to help.
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Choose to be Present. Turn off phones. Please mute when you’re not speaking. Turn on your video throughout the Zoom meeting, except during the break or if you are eating.
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Choose Civil Discourse. Everyone participates, no one dominates. Use respectful words and tone. Assume positive intent from each participant. Please, no jargon, buzzwords, or acronyms.
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Choose Truth with Respect. Actively listen, be curious, validate. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Speak your truth without blame or judgment. Disagree without being disagreeable. Be tough on ideas, soft on people.
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Choose to Work Positively. Think proactively —acknowledge, but don’t dwell on, the past. Use “Yes, and …” rather than “Yes, but…”, not “what’s wrong?” but “what’s possible?” Be open to new ideas and new outcomes. Be serious and have fun.
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Choose to Work Together. Leave as a united front. What is said here, stays here.
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Police in Schools Summary
Why are police deployed on school campuses? School police are now part of local law enforcement. In years past, police generally served as traffic cops during the morning and afternoon school “rush.” The past 20 years has seen the creation and expansion of “school resource officers” (SROs) dedicated to specific schools to police behavior that school staff could not. This came to include general student (mis)conduct and possible criminal behavior. The LWV San Diego researched the history and current school policing in San Diego County school districts. Locally, Police in Schools has become controversial as collisions between students and school police have led to negative media coverage and lawsuits. In particular, schools in communities of color have experienced intense policing generally not seen in schools predominantly caucasian. Most recently, public concern over police actions at La Mesa Helix Academy and Lincoln High Schools has increased community demands to remove School Policing from schools.
Is the level of threat at our schools high enough to require policing on campus? San Diego, like many other communities across the country, has experienced school threats and shootings over the years. The first recorded shooting took place at Grover Cleveland Elementary School in 1979 and was immortalized in the song “I Don’t Like Mondays.” This title refers to the reason given by the student for her shooting spree. Schools across the county still receive death threats via email or social media. Sometimes these threats are directed at specific students as cyber-bullying increases.
At the time, anti-violence advocates looked to the local police to reduce violence in the school yards. However, despite the number of threats and actual violence on campus, police officers on campus have had little impact on school violence. Our research has found three incidents where police aggression led to conflict: at a book-drive, before an athletic game, and with a student late to class.
The gun violence and resistance to school integration led to a convergence of calls for police on campus. San Diego Unified School District has its own police department, separate from the city. School police - their hiring, training, and discipline - is overseen both by the school police department and the city police department. Recent problems in San Diego schools, including assaults between police and students and arrests, have strengthened community demands to remove police from schools here in San Diego.
Parents in areas like the very diverse City Heights neighborhood complained over the years of continuous police harassment of their children. The swell of concern gelled into a well-defined effort by the neighborhood non-profit, Mid-City CAN, to insert restorative practices in local schools and restorative justice into the juvenile system. This community work to dampen the school-to-prison pipeline is supported by ongoing financial support from the CalEndowment Fund.
Restorative practices, including restorative justice, implements communication and shared decision-making to heal divisions and hurt caused by district policing and school discipline policies. School districts, police departments and courts have embraced restorative justice to change the narrative for youth caught up in the criminal justice system.
The restorative practices program is being used in many of our schools with success, most likely due to its focus on emotional needs. There are also efforts by criminal justice agencies in San Diego to incorporate restorative justice into their policies and procedures, from Juvenile Hall to the county Department of Parole.The League remains concerned about pervasive racism in our social institutions, including our public schools. We call attention to the recent call for public comments from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights:
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today issued a Request for Information asking members of the public to submit written comments on the administration of school discipline in schools serving students in pre-k through grade 12. This information will assist OCR in determining what policy guidance, technical assistance, or other resources may help schools improve school climate and safety, and ensure equal access to education programs and activities, consistent with the civil rights laws that OCR enforces.
To have local police actively engaged in “discipline” on school campuses with children of color deepens our concern, given the national debate on racism in policing. It creates further potential for unsafe school climates and impacts equal access to education. School staff such as counselors are meant to deal with discipline unless a crime is committed. That is when police could be summoned.
Finally, if we are going to continue an unequal allocation of police to schools, then transparency and accountability need to be established to support a safe school climate for all, as well as the parameters of the work of a school officer. We are troubled by the apparent increase of police-student conflicts in our schools.
There is a commonly held faith in policing as an answer to school problems yet other schools seem to do fine without school police. The Cherokee Elementary School’s experiment in the Peace Path is a stand-out example of alternatives to violence, state or otherwise. Designed by Principal Godwin Higa, it offers a series of choices along a path of conflict and intense training in negotiation and self-awareness. The expulsion of young black children, especially boys, plummeted within months of the institution of the “Peace Path.”
Read the full report.
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Policing Practices Study Consensus Statements
1. Racial and identity profiling by law enforcement is not acceptable. The LWVSD/LWVNCSD* supports effective data collection on law enforcement officer encounters with the community so that any bias can be determined and addressed.
2. Effective anti-bias training is necessary both in the initial training of new law enforcement officers and in regular refresher courses to reduce racial or identity profiling.
3. The LWVSD/LWVNCSD* supports seeking alternatives to the deployment of armed law enforcement officers in routine traffic stops as a means of reducing the number of such stops which escalate into violence.
4. Cities and counties should enact privacy and technology-use ordinances to protect privacy and other civil liberties. The proposed ordinances should include requirements for:
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Specified policy and data to be audited in an annual surveillance report that is publicly available.
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Evidence of crime-prevention effectiveness, civil rights impact, fiscal costs, and source of funding for surveillance technology;
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Establishment of independent civilian commissions at the local jurisdiction level which consist of representatives of involved communities of interest such as civil rights advocates, attorneys, marginalized groups, specialists in technology, privacy and open government, to oversee all law enforcement and government acquisition and use of technology for surveillance
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Enforcement of violations of the ordinances; and
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Whistleblower protections.
5. Abolish the current system of law enforcement officers in schools and replace it with systemic restorative practices and other proven programs. Replace law enforcement officers with student mentors, counselors, and strive for better cohesion with other county/city offices that offer family support and restorative justice programs.
6. Law enforcement officers assigned to schools should not be armed. Rather, law enforcement agencies should provide additional training in mental health, restorative practices and de-escalation.
7. Law enforcement agencies should keep records of all complaints made against a law enforcement officer for at least five years with the records reviewed at least once a year to determine if there is a pattern of misbehavior.
8. An investigation should be conducted of all complaints, however received, with the complainant informed of the action taken to ensure officers are held to a strict standard of behavior.
9. All law enforcement agencies should have a published list of misconduct and expected punishment for the breach of those standards to clarify expectations for both the officers and the public.
10. The League supports restricting law enforcement collective bargaining to salaries, working conditions, benefits, and aspects of workers compensation; any other topics would need public notification and input.
*the position will include the name of the League which adopts the statement.