Portland (Ore.) district is discontinuing presence of police officers at high schools
The Portland (Ore.) school district will no longer have city police officers assigned inside its nine high schools, nor will the other two school districts inside Portland city limits.
The Portland Oregonian reports that Portland Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero has decided that the district is “discontinuing the regular presence of school resource officers.” He says the district intends to increase spending on social workers, counselors and culturally specific supports for students.
Guerrero’s decision is an about-face from spring 2019, when he and his counterparts in two adjoining districts — David Douglas and Parkrose — told city officials they wanted the officers to remain stationed in their schools.
The school resource officer program provides for 11 armed police officers to patrol high schools in the city. Nine of those are in the Portland district.
The developments in Portland come on the heels of nationwide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died when officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nine minutes.
Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder. Three officers who were involved have been charged with aiding and abetting murder.
Floyd’s death led the Minneapolis school district to cut its ties with city police.
In Portland, students, particularly those of color, have long criticized the contract between the district and Portland Police. In December 2018, demonstrators flooded a school board meeting demanding the district cut ties with the school resource officer program.
