By Stanley Ugagbe
Almost four months after placing a controversial program that put police officers in local schools on indefinite hiatus, Peel police have officially dissolved it following a review.
It would be recalled that the program (School Resource Officer) was originally put on hold following complaints from Black and Indigenous students that it wasn’t meeting their needs.
In the period that it was on hold, police formed a review committee to look specifically into interactions between police and students. They previously said they would also consult the Black community, the school board and other affected groups.
In a release, the police said “It was evident during the consultation phase that the current SRO program caused a negative impact on segments of our student population”
“As a result, the first order of business was to dissolve the SRO program and acknowledge publicly that change was necessary.”
The police, while noting that there was support for the program, admitted there were “long-standing concerns about systemic racism and the disproportionately punitive effects this type of traditional programming can produce.”
“Moving forward, (Peel Regional Police) will continue to work with our community regarding student engagement programming,” the police said.
It should be noted that the service originally launched more than 20 years ago, and served to better respond to complaints that occurred on campus.
Reacting to the development, the executive director of the Black Community Action Network in Peel, Sophia Brown Ramsay, said “This is a great step and is thanks to the years of tireless advocacy efforts of Black parents and community organizations”
“Countless studies showed that Black youth were disproportionately the victims of punitive action by police in schools, due to systemic racism. We have a long way to go, but this is a much needed step forward”.
