The public schools of Chicago, Illinois, are left without police officers. This is what the city's Board of Education voted this Thursday, thus ending its agreement with the Police Department and ending the presence of uniformed officers on the city's public campuses. The measure adds to a series of Democratic policies that disfavor law enforcement in Chicago.
The Board of Education of the city of Chicago debated the resolution this Thursday during more than eight hours of plenary session. After that, board members voted to eliminate police patrols in schools, as had been done since 1991. There are a total of 39 school campuses affected by this decision.
At the center of the controversy, and what motivated this vote, are complaints about the negative effects of police presence on campuses. According to Fox News, some students told the Board of Education that the uniformed officers "scared" them. Along these lines, supporters of removing police from schools stated that the presence of officers affected minorities and did not make schools safer.
Chicago dismantles its security
After this vote the Board must come up with an effective plan to reorganize the funds that were destined for police patrols on public school campuses. Board members in favor of ending the patrols assured that this is an opportunity to allocate funds to other projects. "Restorative justice coordinators, youth intervention specialists, wraparound supports and mentoring programs, among others," according to Fox.
A similar argument was the one that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson evoked when announcing the retirement of the ShotSpotter system. The mayor terminated the contract with this tool that serves to alert the Police with the approximate location of shootings in real time in the city of Chicago.
Ending ShotSpotter was a decision that was harshly criticized, because the Police were satisfied with this tool, which made it possible to confront a recurring problem in the city. Brandon Johnson alleged that ShotSpotter discriminated against certain communities.
