School violence revives discussion of SRO on site

While police continue to look into weapon-related assaults at the high school that went unreported to law enforcement for a day, some officials wonder if a school resource officer would have helped the investigation.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100413/NEWS02/4130363/1003/NEWS02       # # # # School violence revives discussion of SRO on site  •  Rutland Herald  •  By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: April 13, 2010  •  SPRINGFIELD — While police continue to look into weapon-related assaults at the high school that went unreported to law enforcement for a day, some officials wonder if a school resource officer would have helped the investigation.  •  Springfield Police Chief Douglas S. Johnston had no new information Monday on a pair of assaults that occurred Thursday. In one instance, a male student at the River Valley Technical Center allegedly threatened a female student with a knife. In the other instance, a male threw a sharp object — either a compass, a punch or some other sort of pointed object — at a female student, which struck her collarbone and cut her.  •  Police first became aware of the incidents, which do not appear to be related, after the parents of the alleged victims contacted them to complain. Police then contacted school officials. Johnston said Friday the investigation might have been further along if school administrators had called the police when the incidents occurred, instead of waiting for police to call them.  •  "We were delayed when they didn't call us, and were delayed more by the weekend," Johnston said.  •  Johnston also raised the possibility that the police response would have been swifter if there had been a school resource officer onsite.  •  "I think we would have been involved from the get-go if we had an SRO," Johnston said. "There are a lot of issues going on up there and it's too bad the School Board voted down the school resource officer."  •  By a tie vote in October, the School Board failed to pass a motion that would have allowed the district to hire a SRO. In May, the town applied for a federal grant through the Department of Justice that would pay the salary and benefits of an entry-level police officer for three years on the condition that some entity — the town, the district or some combination of the two — pay for the fourth year.  •  While there had been some discussion about the school district paying 75 percent of additional expenses and the town paying 25 percent, the Select Board voted to accept the grant on the condition the school district pick up all additional expenses.  •  School Board Chairman Scott Adnams, who along with Vice Chairwoman Jeanice Garfield voted in favor of the SRO, said he has also been pondering how an SRO might have helped respond to the incidents at the school on Thursday.  •  "As one member of the board, I saw value in it and don't think I haven't thought about that," Adnams said. "I have certainly thought about what an SRO could have done."  •  Board members Marilyn Thompson and Sam Coleman voted against the SRO proposal, leaving the vote a tie after the abstention of former Chairman Larry Kraft, weeks after he pleaded innocent to drunken driving. Kraft was arrested by Springfield police.  •  Adnams said he was still gathering information about the incidents and he did not want to rush to judgment on whether or not school administrators should have called the police.  •  "I don't think it was the district's intention to impede a police investigation, should an investigation be warranted," he said. "But this incident has brought to light the fact we need to review our policies."  •