Pubdate: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2007 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Aldo Santin Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) PARENTS WANT POLICE IN SCHOOLS Groups Seek To Expand Program Drug Use, Violence Among Concerns A group of parents wants police in more of the city's high schools to stop crime before it happens. Grassroots organizations representing parents from the inner city and River Heights will be at city hall this morning looking for funding to expand the schools resource officer program. Barbara Coombs, chairwoman of a River Heights group called Parents for an Aware Community, said her group is hoping the city will contribute funds for one police officer to patrol three area high schools. "You wouldn't think that those kinds of problems exist in our schools, but that's a myth," Coombs said. "Every high school has issues that have to be dealt with." Coombs represents parents with children at four high schools -- Kelvin, Grant Park, Churchill and College Churchill. Coombs said that each of the schools have concerns over drug-dealing and drug use, bullying and violence. The group wants one police officer to work with the four schools and the area's feeder junior high schools. Other parents' groups will also be at city hall this morning, as the standing civic committees begin their two-week review of the $741-million operating budget proposed by Mayor Sam Katz almost two weeks ago. The parents will make their presentation at the protection and community services committee, which reviews the police service budget. Other parents' groups are looking for funding to extend the school-based policing program in the city's North End to two downtown-area schools: Gordon Bell High School and Hugh John Macdonald junior high school. One police officer -- known as a school resource officer -- has been assigned to each of three North End schools for four years: R.B. Russell, Children of the Earth, and St. John's High School. The officers act in a crime prevention and education role with the students. They've been credited with diverting kids from gang and criminal activity and, through their work with school kids, have garnered valuable police intelligence on criminal activity in the area. Coombs said the River Heights area used to have two community police officers who worked closely with the area's schools, but those positions were eliminated three years ago. She said the area now gets response only after the crimes are committed. "That's crime response, not crime prevention," Coombs said. Coombs said the Winnipeg Police Service is sympathetic to the parents' concerns, but added police executives told her that they don't have the funding for the additional manpower. Coombs said it's estimated that it would cost about $100,000 to have one police officer assigned to the River Heights high schools, adding she wants the expense to be cost-shared between the city, the Winnipeg School Division and the province. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom