U.S. Department of Justice
Community Relations Service
SCHOOL
DISRUPTIONS
TIPS FOR EDUCATORS
AND POLICE
Revised 1998
The original project resulted from a conference sponsored by the Community Relations Service in the late 1970's, which was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Education. This publication is a 1998 revision of the original publication.
Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the participants and consultants and do not necessarily represent the official position or policy of the sponsoring agencies.
This brochure has two sections:
Preventing Disruptions and Responding to Disruptions.
Following a few introductory remarks, each section is divided into two parts:
What Schools Should Do
What Police Should Do
This brochure outlines a minimum number of basic steps that school and police officials should take in developing a joint approach to problems of school disruption. It may also be used as a resource book of checklists in preparing a memorandum of agreement relating to school disruption.
School Disruptions:
TIPS FOR EDUCATORS
AND POLICE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Preventing Disruptions
Conducting A Needs Assessment
Developing Joint Preventive Measures
Planning for Disruptions
Responding to Disruptions
Using School and Community Resources
Requesting Police Intervention
Managing Police Intervention
Contacts
About the Community Relations Service
CRS Offices
Credits for 1998 Revision
Customer Service Standards
As public-sanctioned
school and police
officials, you share
an awesome
responsibility for
preventing - as well as
dealing with -possible
school disruption.
SCHOOL DISRUPTIONS
REVISION
INTRODUCTION
Since publication of the original School Disruptions brochure in the late 1970's, school systems nationwide have experienced major changes in the make up of their communities in both the number and the variety of cultures and languages. The influx of immigrant groups with their different cultures, languages, and life experiences has challenged existing resources. With these demographic changes, there has been an escalation of community tension that has carried into our schools.
It is rewarding to find that many of the recommendations contained in the original brochure on school disruptions remain relevant to this day. This 1998 revision will make this guidance more useful to schools and law enforcement organizations in our increasingly diverse Nation.
PREVENTING DISRUPTIONS
While creating safe school environments is a community-wide responsibility, preventing disruptions in the schools is the primary responsibility of school and police officials.
School authorities bear the most immediate responsibility for identifying potential school problems. However, only through cooperative planning and open communications can all the conditions that breed school disruptions be analyzed.
This cooperative effort must have one clear purpose: to provide a safe and secure environment in which students may learn to the maximum of their abilities. This must remain the primary purpose, even when racially inflammatory conditions prevail.
Too often, officials facing school problems feel there is nothing they can do immediately to resolve the situation. They see themselves with very limited options. In many cases, school closings are ordered unnecessarily. Good planning which examined other alternatives could have kept the schools open.
Effective planning begins with a realistic assessment of needs. School officials must be prepared to deal with more than just the school's narrowly defined security problems. Community concerns and issues also affect the school's situation.
Needs assessment should be a joint effort. Both the schools and police must conduct studies and share their results. After these initial steps are completed, a better understanding of what the real problems are and who should take the necessary action under specific circumstances will result.
Included in the first section of this booklet are common elements for developing a joint approach to preventing disruption.
This section has three parts:
CONDUCTING A NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Collect Data
Conduct special surveys; examine faculty staffing patterns; and review school policies.
Review school security incident reports.
Evaluate curriculum and social issues affecting the student body; review student involvement in developing policies and programs; and examine student opportunities for participating in activities.
Review changing demographics of the student population and languages spoken.
Review current educational research findings on school disruptions and violence.
Share security information with police. If a school security program exists, it should provide liaison between the principal and the police.
Identify Problems
What are your most serious problems? Have the real causes been identified or addressed?
Of these serious problems, which demand your immediate attention?
Are the problems school-centered, community-centered, or some distinctive combination?
Identify Needs and Set Goals
Request police opinion of what your needs are to prevent disruption.
Based on available data, determine needs and set goals.
Put goals into priorities.
CONDUCTING A NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Collect Data:
Analyze school-related crime information.
Review other law enforcement research findings related to school disruptions and violence
Review police/school incident reports.
Analyze school/community problems and incidents which may spark disruption; and pay attention to conflicts between ethnic groups.
Make appropriate case and intelligence information available to school authorities.
Identify Problems
What problems are likely to require immediate police response? What liaison with the school is needed?
What problems require police participation in long-range solutions?
What is the proper police role in dealing with school-centered and community-centered problems which may lead to school disruption?
Identify Needs and Set Goals
Request school opinion of what you should do to help prevent disruption.
Based on available data, determine needs and set goals.
Put goals into priorities.
CONDUCTING A NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Collect Data:
Analyze school-related crime information.
Review other law enforcement research findings related to school disruptions and violence
Review police/school incident reports.
Analyze school/community problems and incidents which may spark disruption; and pay attention to conflicts between ethnic groups.
Make appropriate case and intelligence information available to school authorities.
Identify Problems
What problems are likely to require immediate police response? What liaison with the school is needed?
What problems require police participation in long-range solutions?
What is the proper police role in dealing with school-centered and community-centered problems which may lead to school disruption?
Identify Needs and Set Goals
Request school opinion of what you should do to help prevent disruption.
Based on available data, determine needs and set goals.
Put goals into priorities.
CONDUCTING NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Develop and Implement Solutions to Meet Goals:
Do you have adequate resources within the community?
Are you making full use of community resources? Has a community advisory council been established?
Are Federal, State, foundation, or corporate grants available to assist with the problem?
Have timetables been established for solutions?
Have responsibility and authority for developing solutions been clearly defined or delegated?
Have responsibility and authority for school-police cooperation been defined and accepted within the administration and between the police and administration?
Re-evaluation
Re-evaluate problems and goals after an appropriate period of time.
Modify existing solutions if necessary.
Develop new solutions if appropriate.
CONDUCTING A NEEDS
ASSESSMENT
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Develop and Implement Solutions to Meet Goals:
What police resources are available for use for school problems?
What special demands on police manpower and budgeting will cooperation with schools create?
How can these demands be met?
Are Federal, State, foundation, or corporate grants available to help meet the demands?
Have timetables been established to guide a joint police/school effort?
Have responsibility and authority for police-school cooperation been defined and accepted within the department and between the school and the department?
Re-evaluation
Re-evaluate problems and goals after an appropriate period of time.
Modify existing solutions if necessary.
Develop new solutions if appropriate.
DEVELOPING JOINT
PREVENTIVE MEASURES
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Assure that your preventive measures reflect your real needs. Are you addressing the problems or symptoms?
Develop a fair code of discipline and a student Bill of Rights. Involve students, parents, and staff in the development process. The policies and codes should include a zero tolerance for firearms and other dangerous weapons on school campuses.
Develop a realistic grievance procedure. Again, involve students, parents, and staff in the development process.
Put into place various activities involving students in the early identification of potential problem areas and development of remedial steps.
Review staffing patterns so that they reflect the community and student body.
Review your curriculum to see that it reflects not only educational standards but also community, ethnic, and student concerns.
Organize student conflict resolution teams to resolve minor conflicts before they escalate to more serious problems.
Assure yourself that the staff of the security unit, should one exist, is capable of recognizing potential problems and is able to deal with students without causing undue antagonism.
Develop open lines of communication with the police and community groups. Establish rumor control and verification centers. If a school security office exists, it should take the lead in police relations. However, final responsibility always rests with the school system superintendent.
Develop liaison with individuals/community groups that work with each major ethnic group.
Consider the creation of a school security unit for defined needs and purposes if your school has no internal security team.
DEVELOPING JOINT
PREVENTIVE MEASURES
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Assure that preventive measures reflect your real needs. Are you addressing the problems or symptoms?
Develop a School Liaison Resource Officer Program in schools where no security unit exists. The head of this program should be actively involved in teaching and curriculum development, as well as in student counseling.
Use officer assignments to develop rapport with Students. Consult with school officials to use police experts as panelists and speakers in school seminars.
Key patrol patterns to critical times and locations relating to schools.
Develop formal policies and processes for supporting school security.
Open lines of communication with the schools, the juvenile court, and community groups.
Assure that liaisons exists with new racial/cultural groups.
Clarify legal issues relating to police participation in normal school processes.
Provide school officials with examples (and training if necessary) of circumstances and incidents which must be reported to police even when there is no major disruption.
PLANNING FOR DISRUPTIONS
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Identify potential problem sites:
List available resource people who could respond quickly to the above sites.
Include school security, teaching and non-teaching staff, traditional and non-traditional student leaders, parents, community representatives, and police.
Specify tasks for each resource person and develop a communication network to the central command post.
Other considerations:
PLANNING FOR DISRUPTIONS
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Identify potential problem sites and times:
Outline available police resources:
Other considerations:
PLANNING FOR DISRUPTIONS
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Other considerations (continued):
Review, update, and reissue school/police plans. Develop a procedure requiring annual review and update of all the foregoing. Reissue revised plans to all involved personnel.
PLANNING FOR DISRUPTIONS
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Other considerations (continued):
Review, update, and reissue school/police plans. Develop a procedure requiring annual review and update of all the foregoing. Reissue revised plans to all involved personnel.
If a school racial
disruption occurs,
the first responsibility
is to protect life and
return to
a normal educational
setting as soon as
possible.
RESPONDING TO DISRUPTIONS
Even with well thought-out prevention plans, disruptions may occur. This responsibility is equally shared by both the school and police with help from parents and the community.
The best way to assure an orderly, effective response to disruption is through cooperative preplanning and pre-established positive relationships with parents and community liaisons. Police, school personnel, and community liaisons are dependent upon each other in this process. Each should know what to expect from the other. A major lesson from CRS experience with school disruption response efforts is that community liaisons have been underutilized to allay parental concerns and escalating community tensions stemming from misinformation. Lingering misinformation serves to catalyze anger and exacerbates the potential for escalation of the existing disturbance.
Positive relationships can be established best by designing a written contingency plan between schools and law enforcement through a memorandum of agreement or understanding. 'There should be no surprises when responding to a disruption.
Whether or not such formal arrangements exist, there are certain minimum steps that must be considered when responding to a school disruption. The following section outlines these steps.
This section has three parts:
USING SCHOOL AND
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Respond to a disruption according to its level of intensity. Generally, there are three levels of intensity which should be discussed and agreed to with the police.
Level 1 - When disruption is confined to one area and there is no threat to students or staff.
School officials are better off dealing with this situation internally. Avoid the complications that may arise with the massive use of outside resources.
If a school security program exists, involve it immediately. If necessary, bring in supplementary school professionals to help stabilize the school and manage the short-term overload of demands on school administration.
Consider deployment of student conflict-resolution teams for outreach to student population.
The overall policy in these situations should be containment and removal, with minimum interruption of the educational processes.
USING SCHOOL AND
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Respond to a disruption according to its level of intensity. Generally, there are three levels of intensity which should be discussed and agreed to with school officials:
Level I - When disruption is confined to one area and there is no threat to students and staff.
In these situations, the immediate police commander should be thoroughly briefed on what is happening. Where a school security program exists, the best liaison is usually between the intelligence unit and a designated school security officer.
Appropriate internal alert procedures should be designed to deal with the crisis should it intensify.
The overall policy in these situations is containment and removal with minimum interruption of the educational processes.
USING SCHOOL AND
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Level 2 - When disruptive forces are able to move freely around the school campus and/or pose a direct threat to members of the school community.
School security officers with appropriate legal status should apprehend disrupters and end disruption. In the absence of such security officers, police assistance should be requested to control and remove disrupters.
If necessary, bring in supplementary school professionals to help manage school administration during the difficulties. Also, bring in previously selected and trained community representatives to assist in the stabilization effort. Make sure that language and cultural requirements of student body are met.
Finally, activate the school's community advisory council if one exists. Above all, make every effort to keep the school open.
Level 3 - When disruption is general, educational processes have ended for most students, and there are serious threats to students and staff. In short, the situation is out of control and cannot be controlled by school personnel alone.
Immediately, request police assistance according to pre-existing plans. Generally, the school should be closed. When violations of the law are involved, authority to end disruption should shift from the school administrators to the police officer in charge of the police response.
However, responsibility for the school should remain in the hands of the school administrators. School officials should cooperate with the police in a phased plan for restoring normal school operations.
USING SCHOOL AND
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Level 2 - When disruptive forces are able to move freely around the school campus and/or pose a direct threat to members of the school community.
Institute a Level 2 alert for the school. Prepare a designated response unit to assist the school if necessary.
If assistance is requested, respond with the minimum number of police required. Try to draw as little attention to yourselves as possible.
In collaboration with school authorities, apprehend disrupters and assist school in filing appropriate charges. Make use of community liaisons, if necessary, to reduce the potential of misinformation inflaming community tensions.
Get out of the school as soon as possible.
Level 3 - When disruption is general, educational processes have ended for most students, and there are serious threats to students and staff. In short, the situation is out of control and cannot be controlled by school personnel alone.
Institute a Level 3 alert for the school and respond according to plans for dealing with a major disruption.
Apprehend disrupters, end disruption, and remain at the school as long as needed to provide deterrence and security.
Return all security functions to school personnel as quickly as possible.
REQUESTING POLICE
INTERVENTION
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Who calls the police?
Who will be in charge?
REQUESTING POLICE
INTERVENTION
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
To whom do the police respond?
Who will be in charge?
MANAGING POLICE
INTERVENTION
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
Establish and maintain two-way communications; work together:
Control and predefine responses:
Assure that levels of police response are dictated by the level of school disruption:
Provide police withdrawal assistance:
MANAGING POLICE
INTERVENTION
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Establish and maintain two-way communications; work together:
Control and pre-define responses:
Dictate levels of police response based on the level of school disruption:
Plan and execute phases:
MANAGING POLICE
INTERVENTION
WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD DO
MANAGING POLICE
INTERVENTION
WHAT POLICE SHOULD DO
Assure timely police withdrawal:
Has the crisis peaked?
What is the school's estimate of the situation?
Is the disruption affecting the surrounding community?
What are the minimum force levels which may be needed to keep the school open?
In what condition are the assigned police officers?
Are there other police forces involved? What are their conditions?
Are police officers needed elsewhere?
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY
RELATIONS SERVICE
The Community Relations Service (CRS), an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, is a specialized Federal conciliation service available to State and local officials to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict, violence and civil disorder. When governors, mayors, police chiefs, and school superintendents need help to defuse racial or ethnic crises, they turn to CRS. CRS helps local officials and residents tailor locally defined resolutions when conflict and violence threaten community stability and wellbeing. Created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, CRS is the only Federal Agency dedicated to preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions, incidents, and civil disorders. It assists State and local units of government, private and public organizations, and community groups in restoring community racial stability and harmony.
CRS OFFICES
CRS conciliation, prevention, and technical assistance services are available through Regional and Field Offices
Regional Offices
Region I (New England)
(ME, VT, NH, MA, CT, RI)
99 Summer Street, Suite 1820
Boston, MA 02110
617/424-5715
617/424-5727 (FAX)
Region II (Northeast)
(NY, NJ, VI, PR)
26 Federal Plaza, Suite 36-118
New York, NY 10278
212/264-0700
212/264-2143 (FAX)
Region III (Mid-Atlantic)
(DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV)
2nd and Chestnut Streets, Suite 208
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215/597-2344
215/597-9148 (FAX)
Region IV (Southeast)
(AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN)
75 Piedmont Ave, NE, Suite 900
Atlanta, GA 30303
404/331-6883
404/331-4471 (FAX)
Region V (Midwest)
(IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI)
55 West Monroe Street, Suite 420
Chicago. IL 60603
312/353-4391
312/353-4390 (FAX)
Region VI (Southwest)
(AR, LA, NM, OK, TX)
1420 West Mockingbird Lane, Suite 250
Dallas, TX 75247
214/655-8175
214/655-8184 (FAX)
Region VII (Central)
(IA, KS, MO, NE)
I 100 Main Street, Suite 320
Kansas City, MO 64105-2112
816/426-7434
816/426-7441 (FAX)
Region VIII (Rocky Mountain)
(CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY)
1244 Speer Blvd., Suite 650
Denver, CO 80204-3584
303/844-2973
303/844-2907 (FAX)
Region IX (Western)
(AZ, CA, GU, HI, NV)
120 Howard Street, Suite 790
San Francisco, CA 94105
415/744-6565
415/744-6590 (FAX)
Region X (Northwest)
(AK, ID, OR, WA)
915 Second Street, Suite 1808
Seattle, WA 98174
206/220-6700
206/220-6706 (FAX)
Field Offices
Community Relations Service
51 SW First Ave, Suite 424
Miami, FL 33130
305/536-5206
305/536-7363 (FAX)
Field Offices
(continued)Community Relations Service
211 West Fort Street, Suite 1404
Detroit, MI 48226
313/226-4010
313/226-2568 (FAX)
Community Relations Service
515 Rusk Avenue, Suite 12605
Houston, TX 77002
713/718-4861
713/718-4862 (FAX)
Community Relations Service
888 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1880
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213/894-2941
213/894-2880 (FAX)
1998 Revision by:
Lawrence Turner, Senior Conciliation
Specialist Community Relations Service
U.S. Department of Justice
Dr. Ernest Jones, Education Consultant
Region VII, Community Relations Service
U.S. Department of Justice
Daryl S. Borgquist, Media Affairs Officer
Community Relations Service
A U S. Government
Printing Office: 1998 - 432-162 (95385)CUSTOMER SERVICE
STANDARDS
Community Relations Service
Our goal is to provide sensitive and effective conflict prevention and resolution services. CRS will meet the following standards: