Officers in Peel Region schools make students feel safer: study

High school students in Peel Region report feeling safer in class and less likely to be bullied when police officers are embedded in their schools, a new study has found. 

On Wednesday Carleton University released a study after two years of studying Peel Region's School Resource Officer Program. The program, now in its 22nd year, assigns two dedicated police constables to every high school in the region. 60 officers participate in the program every year. 

"It's not just the officer that is assigned to the school, but in the after-hours they are assigned to the local neighborhood, the local establishments within that school area, so they are assigned to that community," said Peel Region Chief Jennifer Evans.

The study, conducted by Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, found the $9-million a year project provides a significant economic benefit: every $1 spent generates roughly $11.00 in economic and social benefit. 

"Sometimes you have to spend money on pro-active policing to get returns," lead researcher professor Linda Duxbury said. 

Ottawa has a similar program but it is much smaller in scope. In Ottawa, 23 officers are responsible for 373 institutions, from elementary to high school. 

"For us to adopt something like Peel has, we'd have to really think that our model wasn't working and the feedback from all of the schools that I deal with and the school board, they think that the program is very successful," said Acting Staff Sgt. Adam Coakley. "They appreciate the time that the officers spent with the students and the rapport that they build with the staff." 

Chief Evans said she hopes other police forces will look to her service for guidance.

"This is a sought after program. People are always vying to get into this area," she said. "If anything I think the police leaders will look through this report and think about putting officers in high schools." 

Carleton interviewed 23 SRO officers, 11 sergeants and staff sergeants, 8 students and 44 school administrators as part of its study. 5 different high schools took part in surveys and interviews, with more than 1,200 grade nine students surveyed in September 2015 and March 2016. 

The full report can be read here: 

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  TDSB ENDS SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER PROGRAM -- The School Resource Officer program – a program that placed police officers in some high schools for nearly a decade – came to an end in November after TDSB trustees decided to scrap the program. The program was implemented after the fatal 2008 shooting of Jordan Manners at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute. The decision to end the program followed a survey that found some students felt targeted and fearful with a police presence in schools. While the survey found that most students did not feel that way, trustees said it was not acceptable to have 2,000 students who felt intimidated while in school. Community activists in the Jane and Finch area praised the decision as a move that undid a program many never wanted in the first place. Police union officials decried the move as an “anti-police” policy that would make students less safe.