South City schools eye police relationship

While no decision was made during the meeting which featured hours of deliberation regarding plans for reopening campuses, Azzopardi implored officials to preserve the program he considered invaluable.

“The program works for the South San Francisco Unified School District, works for the South San Francisco Police Department and most importantly works for the students that attend our schools,” said Azzopardi.

Officials agreed to bring the discussion back for further examination at a later date, when they had more time to address the nuances of the program. The issue arrives in South San Francisco as community groups across the nation have called into question bonds between law enforcement agencies and education systems.

For his part, Azzopardi said he believed holding such a discussion locally was misguided.

“Removing the [school liaison officers] from our district based on problems that are occurring across the country, but not in my opinion in South San Francisco, is an overreaction,” he said.

Board President Pat Murray declined a request for comment on the issue, citing the board’s pending decision on the issue at a later meeting.

For roughly 30 years, officers from the South San Francisco Police Department have had some presence on local school district campuses. Azzopardi said currently there are two who visit sites throughout the district.

Officers engage with students and staff in a variety of manners, including offering presentations and other efforts to build community. He added their presence is not focused on enforcement.

To that end, he said the 350 calls for service to a local campus yielded two separate arrests for assault last year. Furthermore, he said officers will not begin investigating an issue unless their intervention is requested.

“It has never been the intent of the police department to be where anybody was in fear of us. If it’s gotten to that, it’s a shame,” he said. “I know we didn’t do anything to get it there. But our whole mission has been to build any relationship we can with the youngsters.”

Funding for the liaison program is provided entirely through the city’s budget, and comes at no cost to the school district, barring instances in which officers work security for dances or other extracurricular events, said Azzopardi.

A former liaison officer, Azzopardi said the program has paid great dividends in encouraging local students to pursue a career in law enforcement. To that end, he said nearly 30% of the force is comprised of South San Francisco natives.

Acknowledging a close administrative relationship with Superintendent Shawnterra Moore, Azzopardi said the school district has never complained about the service or asked to end the relationship with the police department.

But if the board were to terminate the arrangement, Azzopardi noted the department would be forced to limit some assistance such as offering traffic enforcement or crossing guard programs at local elementary schools.

“If we don’t have [school liaison officers], the school district will not get the same level of service,” he said.

More broadly, Azzopardi expressed his disappointment that the program design was up for examination.

“It’s an interesting time, it’s a sad time to have to justify this,” he said.

In other news, the board unanimously approved a proposal to start the year with distance learning to stem spread of the coronavirus. Should health conditions improve, more students will be brought back to campus over time.

Additional conversations will take place regarding scheduling and assuring educators are adequately prepared to provide rigorous lessons through online classes.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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