Law Enforcement, School Officials Tackle Violence Prevention at Forum
Improved collaboration between law enforcement authorities and school officials to share information and resources to protect communities from violence headlined the suggestions made by a panel of experts last week at Westchester County’s Safer Communities forum.
Led by County Executive Rob Astorino, the six-member panel assembled at SUNY Purchase on Feb. 27 and discussed strategies that could be incorporated into local and regional plans to keep students safe in school in light of December’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The discussion followed an appearance by former Los Angeles Chief of Police William Bratton, who stressed cooperation.
“There needs to be a seamless organization,” he said. “We can’t continue to operate in silos. There’s too much at stake.”
Astorino cautioned the crowd of several hundred police and school administrators that had gathered for the nearly four-hour forum that there is no simple solution, with multiple factors needing to be considered. More vigilant law enforcement, tighter school security, greater emphasis on identifying those with potential mental health issues and larger societal issues such as violent video games and movies must all be addressed.
“I think what we all realize is we’re not walking out of here with the answer,” Astorino said. “There is no one answer.”
The panel also included Harrison School Superintendent Louis Wool, who is president of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents; Mount Pleasant Police Detective Martin Greenberg; Kelly Chiarella, the Westchester-East Putnam PTA region director; Isabel Burk, coordinator of school safety for Southern Westchester BOCES; and FBI special agent Maryann Goldman.
Panelists agreed that whatever steps are taken must not cost more. With the public largely opposed to raising taxes and the 2 percent tax cap in place there is no extra money in most jurisdictions to make major security overhauls. In fact, Greenberg said that districts have been cutting school resource officers, which has proven to be an effective way for local police to interact with youths.
“Whatever we do we have to be very careful we’re not creating new unfunded mandates,” Chiarella said.
Chiarella said school personnel, police, parents and the larger community must work together more closely to identify warning signs of troubled youngsters and reach out to them and their families to help.
Wool agreed with Chiarella that having communities getting to better know its members is critical. The Newtown shooter, for example, was known to be someone that didn’t fit in well with his peers when he was in school.
“The best way we can promote safety is to care about all of the individuals in that community,” Wool said.
Wool said he is steadfastly opposed to having armed officers in schools. At Harrison High School, for instance, there are 28 doors leading to and from the outside.
While proper school security is critical, Burk urged the audience to hire the most committed, talented and vigilant staff members rather than relying too heavily on traditional security apparatus.
“Our best strategy is investing in good people because they’ll be around for 20 years but that camera may wear out in three,” she said.
Greenberg said in his time with the Mount Pleasant police he has met with 30 principals and 12 school superintendents among the districts that serve the town in an effort to get to know the communities through programs, such as D.A.R.E.
“We make it our business to get to our schools, to show face, to get to know the students,” Greenberg said.
“We’re doing programs, we are sharing, we are going to make a difference in our community,” he later added.
The next installment of the Safer Communities initiative will take place on April 9 when the departments of Health and Community Mental Health hold a Community Violence Prevention Forum at the County Center in White Plains. The county is working with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the program to address violence as a public health issue.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/