Review of program that puts police officers in Regina schools underway
CBC
A review of the Regina school resource officer (SRO) program —which puts police officers in schools — is underway, with open houses for students, parents and community members beginning this week.
The program has been running for 43 years and operates as a partnership between the school divisions and the Regina Police Service.
There are 14 total officers assigned to all Regina high schools and elementary schools. One sergeant oversees the program.
In 2020, some students, parents and community members in Regina called for the program to be cut.
The city's school divisions hired Praxis Consulting to conduct the review, along with open houses and an online survey.
"The SRO Program Review will provide an assessment of the program, including its strengths and challenges," the school divisions said in a statement. "It will also gather insight and perspectives on how the program can meet the future needs of schools and the community."
This first of six open houses was held at Harbour Landing and St Kateri Tekakwitha schools on Tuesday night. The rest are scheduled over the next week.
"It's really to do a bit of an evaluation of the program. What's working, what's not working and what things need to be tweaked to make it better. We're constantly hearing positive feedback from school administrators, staff and students," Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said Tuesday.
School resource officer programs have been under the microscope in Canada in recent years.
In 2017, Toronto School Board trustees voted 18-3 in favour of cancelling a program that had started in 2008 and saw armed officers in 36 schools.
Charlottetown, P.E.I., cancelled its program in 2022 because of a lack of staffing.
The Edmonton Catholic School division hired criminology professors from Carleton University to study its program and in 2022, the division said results supported the program continuing.
Last October, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report, titled Safer Schools Without Policing Indigenous and Black Lives in Winnipeg, calling for an end to school resource officers in Winnipeg.
It included accounts from 24 students, 13 parents or legal guardians and two informants. They suggest the presence of police in schools causes harm and compounds discrimination students of colour already face from peers and school staff.
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