Police would support security at schools by liaising with them on a daily and weekly basis and officers would also have a working relationship with principals and school deans in areas that needed that, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said yesterday. He confirmed the situation following yesterday’s Joint Select Committee meeting at Parliament.
Commenting on violence at some schools, he made it clear that there would not be any soldier patrols at schools unless the situation got worse.
“And I don’t think we have reached that stage of escalation,” he added.
On security for schools he said: “We have to go beyond reactive. We have to get long-term solutions.” He said police would be used for schools in all jurisdictions and he wanted to see a police officer providing a school with a strong determination to treat with delinquent students.
Vehicular patrols by police would also be done to provide a regular deterrent presence since Dillon said there were “external factors” that influenced schools.
“We want to show them we have a presence there so (police) vehicles will pass by,” he added. He also said police patrols would be done around pre-schools, in an unobtrusive, friendly way, that would get students acquainted with police, help them learn about such institutions and role models.
He said police would not enter such schools or act aggressively around children but would demonstrate to students they could relate to and chat with police and get to understand the system. He said one would not want to overwhelm a school environment with such excessive security since it would send negative signals not only to students but to the international community.
On troubled El Dorado East Secondary School, Dillon said his ministry was lending support to the Education Ministry and he had “thrown out” some thoughts to the acting Police Commissioner on the issue and was awaiting feedback. He declined details of the “thoughts,” but said the situation involved a collaborative effort among Education, National Security, the National Parent Teachers’ Association (NPTA) and other stakeholders.