by Diane C. Wheeler, Esq.
THE CHILDREN’S CORNER The School Resource Officer:
Reducing the Need for Court Intervention and Oversight In September, fourteen year-old Brady Wood1
was found by the school’s lunch lady in his high school cafeteria with three bagels and two cartons of milk in his pock- ets. Brady immediately took responsibility for the attempted theft. As the school had suffered several thefts
from the cafeteria in the few short weeks the students had returned to classes, the school resource officer (SRO) was called to do paperwork for a delinquency petition alleging that Brady Wood had committed the delinquent act of attempted petit lar- ceny.
Shortly after meeting with Brady, the school resource officer was visited by two students who were concerned about Brady and his delinquency. They told the SRO that Brady had admitted to them that he had tried to take the food from the cafete- ria that day, and that he had stolen food periodically from the cafeteria since school had started. These two students also in- formed the SRO that they had been to Brady’s home to pick Brady up for an event, and at that time they were able to observe that there was little food in the home, but that there was lots of alcohol and drug par- aphernalia scattered throughout the ar- eas of Brady’s house that they were able to view.
A couple of days later, Brady stopped by
the SRO’s office. Brady apologized to the SRO for trying to take the food out of the cafeteria, and went on to explain that there wasn’t much food at his house lately be- cause his parents were spending any mon- ey they had on alcohol and drugs. When the SRO reminded Brady that there were programs for getting Brady breakfasts and lunches at school at no cost to him or his family, Brady told the SRO that he was aware of the programs, and had brought the paperwork home to be filled out, but that his parents wouldn’t sign it. Based on all the information the SRO
had received from Brady and the other two students, the SRO went to Brady’s home, ostensibly to issue Brady a juvenile cita- tion for the attempted petit larceny. As the SRO entered the residence, he was able to see exactly what the two students had de- scribed: little food, lots of alcohol empties, and some drug paraphernalia. And further, the parents confirmed what Brady had told the SRO: Brady had brought the paper- work home so he could get free hot break-
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fasts and lunches, but that the parents had refused to sign off on it. The parents said that they “could take care of their own.” When questioned by the SRO as to why there was no money for food but seemed to be money for alcohol, the parents re- sponded, “We earn the money, and we’ll spend it as we see fit.”At that moment the SRO made a decision: he was not issuing Brady a juvenile citation, but was instead making his mandated report to DCF for ne- glect.
Ultimately, no CHINS2 petition was filed
in family court in this case. In the end, the parents agreed that their use of substanc- es was interfering with their ability to pro- vide for Brady and that, for the time being, Brady should go to live with an aunt and uncle who lived up the road. As for Brady’s delinquent behavior, the SRO made ar- rangements for Brady to perform ten hours of community service with the school main- tenance person.
The school resource officer has been a
part of the juvenile system for years, origi- nally focusing on issues of truancy. And in those early years there were few school resource officers who were willing and able to focus on the “best interests of the child.” Many of the early SROs had no in- terest in working with kids, particularly in a school environment. However, these SROs were told by their departments that being an SRO was their assignment, like it or not. As time moved on, SROs were recruited by the law enforcement agencies. The law en- forcement agencies offered these officers specialized training and a weekday sched- ule of Mondays through Fridays. And that was appealing to many officers. While the law enforcement officers were enticed with training and a good work schedule, many officers found added in- centive: working with kids and making a difference in their lives. SRO Kevin Cleary is a retired federal investigator now an of- ficer with the Swanton Village Police De- partment. As to being an SRO he has stat- ed, “I’ve always been interested in work- ing with kids because of the opportunity to save some along the way. And in school, you can save a few kids. Over the last few years there have been a couple of kids who’d I’d arrested who thanked me for helping them out. For me, that’s the mark of a successful law enforcement career.”
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2013
One local Franklin County law enforce- ment supervisor noted that “ … the officers working a shift are locked into responding to a call, defusing the situation in one way or another, and moving on to the next com- plaint. SROs, on the other hand, have the ability to be flexible and creative in their re- sponse to a situation, when appropriate.” Additionally, SROs in Vermont have noted that they have the time to follow up on ev- ery case that comes to their attention as there aren’t three or four complaints need- ing immediate attention stacked up behind the case they are working on at the mo- ment. So, does the work of a school resource officer impact the juvenile justice system? Absolutely: from the beginning to the end. What is striking at first is the reduction in the number of juvenile delinquency pe- titions sent to the state’s attorney for re- view involving delinquent behavior at the schools and in the immediate communities. In Franklin County, there are approximately 64% fewer cases being sent for review for potential delinquency petitions involving bad behavior at schools than there were seven years ago when there was a lack of SROs in the school communities. And that’s not because the students have stopped acting out. SROs report that students continue to engage in bad or delinquent behavior. And when it comes to the students’ bad or de- linquent behavior at school or in their im- mediate communities, the SROs are do- ing thorough and complete investigations. What is different, however, is that the SRO is most often able to work with the juve- nile offender to take responsibility for his or her actions and to formulate a response or remedy that is constructive, creative, promotes safety for any victims, and that makes reparation to the community. A typical response to a juvenile who has engaged in low-to-moderate delinquent behavior might include providing service(s) to the school or community in which the behavior occurred. When the delinquent behavior involves conflict with or among other persons, the SROs have served as mediators themselves or asked other per- sons trained in alternative dispute resolu- tion to fashion appropriate remedies and responses. Another resolution that has been shown to reduce after-school delin- quencies on school grounds or in the local
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