It took significantly longer than perhaps first contemplated, but Arlington’s school system and police department have come to a concordat on a new relationship.
“We have reached a major milestone,” Superintendent Francisco Durán said on March 10, reporting that the agreement was in hand and available at www.apsva.us/engage/schoolresourceofficer.
The agreement “reimagines in a very positive way the relationship between [the school system] and the police department – a close partnership,” Durán said.
The agreement comes nine months after the School Board voted to kick police officers out of schools, a move critics said would leave school officials with blood on their hands if a violent incident occurred and no police were in the vicinity.
School Board members and Durán, however, see the change as part of an effort to “reduce student involvement in the criminal-justice system” by having matters handled internally where possible, and to “protect the rights of our students.”
School officials don’t have the power to completely eliminate police involvement; state law requires a whole host of incident types to be reported to law enforcement for investigation.