Hamilton public school board terminates police liaison program

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Published June 23, 2020 at 1:03 pm

On Monday night (June 22), the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) voted to terminate the police liaison program at its final meeting of this academic year.

On Monday night (June 22), the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) voted to terminate the police liaison program at its final meeting of this academic year.

The motion, put forward by the Human Rights & Equity Community Advisory Committee, called for the immediate termination of the program that “makes students feel anxious.”

“While the program may have the intention to build relationships, police presence in schools results in fear and anxiety for many students,” a committee report said.

“While the program may appear neutral, it produces different outcomes for different students.”

Earlier this month, the board voted to review the student resource officer program (SRO) following renewed calls from local advocates to abolish the program.

The issue was back on the agenda at Monday’s meeting, however, for reconsideration, particularly because the review still allowed for a police presence in Hamilton public schools.

At a Human Rights & Equity Community Advisory Committee meeting on June 16, they discussed the program at length, taking into consideration the lived experiences of students and came to the conclusion that it was important for the board to stand in solidarity with racialized students.

“Human Rights acts ensure children have access to protection from discrimination,” the report on the June 16 meeting said. “The Ontario Human Right Code says case law recognizes that racial profiling is a systemic problem in policing.”

The committee voted unanimously to call for the abolition of the SRO.

At Monday’s meeting, while the program was nixed, trustees agreed to seek an ‘alternative’ to the ‘proactive’ SRO.

Earlier this year, a report calling for an end to the program surfaced after the group HWDSB Kids Need Help, with the support of Hamilton’s Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), gathered input and written submissions from Hamilton students who have experienced racism or discrimination in their schools.

Many of the shared experiences involved the Hamilton Police officers in the schools as part of the liaison program.

In the lead up to Monday’s vote, HWDSB Kids Need Help shared some of the experiences shared by current and former students.

More than a hundred protestors gathered Monday evening outside City Hall to stage a sit-in in support of the motion before the HWDSB trustees.

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