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MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS
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Drake Cop On Campus Program
"Please Leave The Gun Somewhere Else"
By Jim Scanlon
Some 20-25
parents met at Drake High School on short notice January 11 at 8:30 a.m. to discuss a federal grant of $125,000 that has been
approved by the US Department of Justice under the Community Oriented Policing
Services (COPS) to hire a uniformed and armed police officer to be assigned to
the Drake campus.
School principal Don Drake said that the early morning meeting was the first
to address concerns over the program and a second would be held, if necessary,
at night, with a presentation to the Trustees set for March 8, 2005
Seemingly all parents with the exception of two, had reservations about the
need for an armed police officer and the atmosphere of distrust, unease and
fear that this might create. The need for an officer to be armed and in uniform
was also questioned.
Principal Don Drake said that the uniform and firearm were conditions for
accepting the grant. The cost to the school would be $16,000 per year or
$48,000 over the three year term of the grant. The cost to the town of San Anselmo would be $100,000 for the three
year period.
One of the parents from the committee that applied for the grant said that
there were concerns about safety, emergency procedures, crime and strangers on
campus, and when they applied for the grant, "We never thought in our wildest
imagination that we would get it approved."
Although Principal Drake said that the grant had nothing to do with the
Patriot Act and Homeland security, Richard Sloan, a Trustee for the Lagunitas School District whose daughter attends Drake, read from a copy of a web
page from the COPS web site which had a quote by Attorney General John Ashcroft
and listed training sessions promoting "homeland security."
Some of the concerns of parents expressed at the meeting were that parent
were not informed about the grant until it was a "done deal," that no
information had been sent home, that there was nothing going on campus that
warranted a police officer to be present at all times, that the school's
present security staff of two workers was more than sufficient and that an
armed officer might undermine and undervalue their work, that the school's
money would be better spent on a teacher's salary, that the DARE program run by
police was a failure etc., etc.
An article on the meeting appeared in the Independent Journal by two
reporters who were not present at the meeting and therefore their observations
were not first hand. The quotes from their sources create the impression that a
concern was that the program "Reeks of big brother" alluding to the
all pervading totalitarian control described in George Orwell's famous novel.
This reporter did not hear the term "big brother" used. What seemed
of greatest concern was that they, and their children, would feel that the
staff of the school was not in control and that a police officer was necessary.
While principal Drake and Commander James Providenza of the San Anselmo
Police Department were at pains to deny that the program was not a "done
deal," the San Anselmo police officer who had apparently been chosen as
the SRO (School Resource Officer) was present but did not speak. His father,
whose daughter attends the school, was present and spoke in favor of the
program as right for the school and of his son as right for the program.
At the end of the meeting when Principal Drake asked for a show of hands as
to who had reservations about the program, everyone raised their hand except
the father of the SRO designate.
The next meeting of parents will be held on the evening of February 2. This
meeting will undoubtedly be better attended by supporters of the program.