Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: APRIL 2016 33 Cops in the schools are facing scrutiny I f you want to see a model of aggressive school policing in ac- tion, the best place to look is Virginia. According to PublicInteg- rity.org, based on an analysis of 2011-2012 data collected by the U.S. Department of Education, Virginia’s rate of referring students to cops or courts was about three times the national rate of six referrals for every 1,000 students. Now Virginia legisla- tors are considering bills that would limit the role of school cops and prohibit charging K-12 students with “disorderly conduct.” Similar efforts are under- way in many parts of the country. Among the reforms be- ing considered is a measure that would release school administrators from state code requirements that they report a range of incidents to police. Another change would strengthen the rights of stu- dents with disabilities if they were charged with disorderly behavior and face criminal prosecution in court. To read the tea leaves on this stuff, consider the vote on a school police bill that’s already passed out of the Virginia House of Delegates with massive support. Jennifer McClellan, a Richmond representative, is sponsoring HB 487. It was a landslide approved in a 95- to-2 vote. McClellan’s bill changes language in state legislation that authorizes state grants to pay for school resource officers. McClellan says this should provide more discretion to school administrators and officers so they don’t have to feel compelled to involve police in relatively minor violations of school rules like chewing gum or spitballs. “That’s not really the of- ficers’ job,” McClellan said. Officials in Virginia and Georgia looking at major changes to policies governing officers’ roles “I’m not even angry... I’m kind of impressed” Some people are born to work. It’s a personality type thing. These are the people who complained as children that they weren’t being assigned enough homework and who get depressed when they’re not working enough as adults. On the other end of the spectrum is a different kind of worker – the one who works so hard at figuring out how not to work he or she might actually be work- ing harder than those doing actual work. According to a recent article in The Guardian, a 69- year-old Spanish man was fined after officials discov- ered he hadn’t shown up to work for at least six years. Here’s the kicker – the guy’s scheme was discov- ered only when the deputy mayor attempted to give him an award for 20 years of “loyal and dedicated” service. “I thought, where is this man?” the deputy mayor told reporters. “Is he still there? Has he retired? Has he died?” An investigation into the matter determined the man hadn’t been to his office for at least six years and maybe as many as 14. Investigators discovered that Mr. Garcia had done “absolutely no work” be- tween 2007 and 2010. Officially, the man was supposed to be super- vising the construction of a water treatment plant. Apparently Mr. Gar- cia took advantage of the fact that the wa- ter company thought the city council was in charge of García, while the city coun- cil thought the water company was super- vising him. Has anyone seen Garcia? “Cynthia Brown’s book Brave Hearts: Extraordinary Stories of Pride, Pain and Courage continues to distinguish itself as an emotional and unique look at the challenges and honor of the law enforcement profession. This book has become an important read for college level criminal justice students and adds an important dimension to the learning experience in courses such as criminology, ethics in criminal justice, introduction to law enforcement and U.S. law enforcement. I strongly urge the academic community in the criminal justice field to consider using Brave Hearts as a course text. This book will help students better understand the law enforcement culture as well as the complex realities of a career in law enforcement.” — Jeffrey Kuhn, Esq. Associate Vice-President American Military University Jeffrey Kuhn, Esq. “I strongly urge you to use Brave Hearts as a course text.”