Our View: It should be up to Carroll County to decide if SRO program works here | COMMENTARY

It’s funny how positions change as the political winds begin to blow in a different direction. Maryland’s Safe to Learn Act, which established new security measures for school systems including either school resource officers or plans for adequate law enforcement coverage, passed with bipartisan support shortly after the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school that left 17 dead was followed shortly by a deadly shooting at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County.

As we approach the three-year anniversaries of those tragedies, Maryland lawmakers have introduced bills that would effectively put an end to the SRO program as it currently exists.

State Sen. Arthur Ellis, D-Charles, sponsored a bill that would prohibit an SRO from entering the building except under certain circumstances, make them conceal certain firearms and require them to wear civilian clothes. Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, D-Montgomery, introduced a bill that would repeal state funding for SROs and use that $10 million to enhance mental health services for students. Some school systems are considering disbanding SRO programs.

With school shootings not in the news lately, perhaps some have forgotten the sense of fear within many communities and the sense of resolve held by many politicians in 2018.

Duane Williams, supervisor of school security and emergency management for Carroll County Public Schools spoke for many when he told us: “It’s quite baffling to me some jurisdictions can turn 180 degrees that fast.” We also agree with Sheriff JIm DeWees, who said the state should not assume “one size fits all” in terms of school security.

Those who criticize SRO programs say they perpetuate a school-to-prison pipeline, unfairly and disproportionately impact minority students and haven’t been proven effective at stopping shootings.

The intent was never to have law enforcement intervening in situations that previously would’ve been handled as school discipline, and certainly not targeting students of color, but that could be happening. Certainly there have been significant numbers of student arrests and accusations of racism in some parts of the state.

Maryland State Department of Education school arrest data from 2018-19 showed 30 arrests in Carroll. Harford County, which is about 50% bigger than Carroll in terms of enrollment, had 215 arrests; Charles County, roughly the same size as Carroll, had 198 and Washington County, slightly smaller than Carroll, had 324.

Meanwhile, 87% of those arrested in Prince George’s County were Black and 50% of those arrested in Montgomery County were Black while Black students made up just 58% and 20%, respectively, of school enrollment in those counties. In Carroll, 23 of the 30 arrests were white students.

Those who say SROs don’t help might get pushback from parents of kids who attended Great Mills given that an SRO was widely credited with intervening so that shooter couldn’t kill others. It is possible the presence of SROs may deter potential shooters. Clearly an officer already in a school can react to a situation faster than an officer on patrol or at a police station.

Carroll’s SRO program has been endorsed by law enforcement, the school system, elected officials and, anecdotally, parents. It actually began prior to the 2018 legislation. At the time, we criticized the Safe to Learn Act as another largely unfunded mandate and wrote it was an issue to be handled at the local level.

It still is. The state shouldn’t tell any county how its SRO program should be administered. If funds are diverted — and we are all for spending money to help with student mental health needs given the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic — the county should continue to fund the program. If the SRO program is ever to be disbanded here, that decision should be made in Carroll, not Annapolis.