City, MPS attempt to ensure school police will not get involved in school discipline
New MPS school police will be prohibited from getting too involved in regular school discipline, under the agreement. Those issues are to be handled by school staff, the memorandum of understanding says.
For over a year, MPS has been required to place 25 school resource officers in its schools as the result of the state law known as Act 12. That hasn't happened, but the agreement the city approved Tuesday morning is one of the final steps for the two to comply with state law.
After passing the full Common Council on a 10-4 vote, the agreement still needs the signature and approval of Mayor Cavalier Johnson. The MPS Board of School Directors was scheduled to vote on the agreement Tuesday evening. The school district previously voted to allocate funds to pay its share of the program.
The four alders who voted against the agreement Tuesday were Milele Coggs, Marina Dimitrijevic, Andrea Pratt and Laressa Taylor.
On Feb. 27, Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge David Borowski found the city of Milwaukee in contempt of his earlier order to put police in schools by that date and imposed a $1,000 daily fine. Those penalties would go into effect March 15, giving the city and MPS time to sign the memorandum of understanding.
The city and district are also expected to have officers in schools by March 15, under the judge's order. To do so, they will need to recruit officers from elsewhere in the police department and, at the very least, according to the judge, schedule a 40-hour training by the National Association of Resource Officers as required by Act 12.
"In my view, it's been the city's intent for a year and a half, either intentionally or neglectfully, to run out the clock on this type of situation. To not comply," Borowski said at the Feb. 27 hearing, the third time he set a deadline.
Borowski's orders are the result of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and a district parent. It aims to force police into MPS schools as required by Act 12.
Here's what to know about the draft memorandum of understanding and how it compares to past versions:
According to the memorandum of understanding, both MPS and the city must agree that school resource officers should not be used to enforce school discipline "unless such participation is necessary under the circumstances."
It also says MPS will be responsible for training school staff in how to distinguish when a student's behavior requires a response from law enforcement, as well as how to avoid participating in law enforcement. Both parties are expected to address "criminal activities by students and other things like environmental crime prevention techniques."
In the hearing last week, Borowski said a school resource officer should be able to tell the difference between a student who "mouths off" and one who is committing a crime of assault.
In response, Milwaukee Police Department Chief of Staff Heather Hough said it's not always so clear. In some cases, teachers may be frightened by a student "mouthing off."
"There are black and white areas of this, but there are also some gray areas," Hough said.
The Journal Sentinel analyzed police call data for the past 11 school years, finding there were 3,700 calls from district addresses on average per year just between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Not all of those calls related to student behavior, however — and many that did were nonviolent.
Research has shown that students of color and those with disabilities are more likely to be arrested or suspended when police are in schools.
In campaigning against school police, some expressed concerns that the presence of officers in understaffed MPS schools will lead young people to become involved with law enforcement for conduct that could otherwise be handled at the school level.
That was an issue in Tuesday's council meeting, too.
"What is the goal of the expanded police interactions with our Milwaukee Public Schools children? What are the metrics being used? Will more students being arrested?" asked Dimitrijevic, who voted against the agreement.
Other council members pushed back.
"I literally just had a town hall on Feb. 22 where I had 30 residents, and the first thing they talked about is when the police are coming back to the schools," said Ald. Mark Chambers Jr.
During Tuesday's council meeting, Dimitrijevic proposed an amendment that said any unanticipated city revenue from the MPS police program be diverted to the Milwaukee Recreation Department for youth programming.
She withdrew that proposal before a vote during Tuesday's meeting, saying she would introduce it during a later committee meeting.
On Monday, Bauman said the National Association of School Resource Officer training is scheduled to begin next week. Milwaukee Police Department officials are finalizing a contract with the national training organization, he said.
On Feb. 27, Assistant City Attorney Clint Muche said 21 current MPD officers have volunteered to work inside city schools.
The officers who volunteered are from various divisions in MPD, said Ald. Peter Burgelis. He said the police department had assured the council there would be no operational issues with moving officers to fill the required 25 positions.
The city had 1,587 police officers in late 2024.
MPS used to station school resource officers in particular schools. But that practice ended in the 2013-14 school year, following concerns those officers were too often involved in school discipline. A 2014-15 report to the school board said police had been "taking on different than intended roles in the schools they were assigned to."
"It was noted that the way some of the cases were handled, officers ended up making arrests as the situations escalated; arrests in schools increased," a different report later found.
Prior versions of the memorandum of understanding between the city and MPS do not specify officers' roles in enforcing school discipline.
Unlike the new draft contract, older agreements said officers would provide "educational resources to pupils and parents regarding issues related to alcohol and other drugs, law, ordinances and the juvenile code."
Past school resource officer contracts capped the number of officers at 12. The new agreement sets it at 25, the required number through state law.
Older agreements also specified that officers would be "mobile" through MPS; the new contract says officers will be positioned in "specific regions through the district to ensure coverage of MPS schools."
In his order last week, Borowski asked the city to provide the names of the officers who will work inside MPS, as well as the schools they would work in.
The saga between the city and its school district began with the passage of 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, a state funding law. In negotiations with the Republican-led State Assembly, that law brought new revenue for the city but came with strict stipulations around things like policing in Milwaukee.
The police-related requirements of Act 12 apply only to MPS, although Wisconsin has 421 public school districts. The law forced MPS to reverse a 2020 decision to terminate contracts with police, action it took in the wake of national anti-police brutality protests and the murder of George Floyd.
Act 12's requirements have been in place since January 2024, but the city and school district have never reached an agreement over funding or contract details. Both Borowski, and attorneys for WILL have maintained the parties are intentionally refusing to comply with the law, though MPS and the city have said they are committed to implementing the program.
"I really hope that the aldermen of Milwaukee have enough sense to understand the predicament that they're in relative to the state law," Borowski said during the case's latest hearing on Feb. 27.
On Monday, Johnson said he wished the agreement had been in place earlier, but said he was pleased the judge ordered the cost be split equally. Johnson said an equal split was the city's position in negotiations.
"I'm interested in getting it done," he said. "I'm happy we're going to be moving forward."
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information about Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police will not get involved in MPS discipline, agreement says
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