Local law enforcement: Force in schools should be limited

By Denise Dick | October 29, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County law-enforcement officials say use of force, particularly involving school students, should be used only in extreme situations.

A deputy sheriff and school resource officer in Columbia, S.C., was fired Wednesday after several students’ cellphone videos showed him dumping a disruptive student out of her desk and throwing her across the floor.

“It’s quite disturbing,” William Morvay, chief of security for the city schools, said of the video.

City police and Mahoning County deputies work security in the city schools, serving as school resource officers.

“We really try to differentiate what is school discipline and what is a criminal act,” Morvay said.

In the South Carolina case, the teenage girl refused to hand over her cellphone after a teacher saw her texting in class, which is a violation of school policy.

That could have been handled by a school administrator using school disciplinary policy, he said.

It has to be a criminal act for the officers employed through the school district to get involved, Morvay said. A large fight would be an example of a criminal situation.

“Our primary concern is the safety and welfare of the students and the staff,” he said.

Robert Gavalier, Austintown police chief, said police departments follow a use of force continuum under which officers may use force that is one step above what’s being demonstrated.

“Taking the fact that you’re in a school environment and you’re dealing with school students, you probably should take a lighter approach,” Gavalier said.

Jack Nichols, Boardman police chief, also referred to the action response continuum. That starts with an officer’s presence and continues up to deadly force in situations where an individual is using force against an officer, trying to disarm an officer or committing an assault that is life threatening.

“When it comes to [moving a person], you can get into a gray area,” he said.

A student lying across the stairwell and refusing to move, blocking other students, for example, could be moved out of the way by an officer.

“But you can move someone without being violent,” Nichols said.

The continuum notes that officer response should reflect “on the amount of resistance encountered. The officer will choose the necessary response based on departmental policy, his physical capabilities, perception, training and experience.”

Nichols referred to a protestor at a demonstration who is refusing to move as an example.

“You could not go up and take a nightstick and start waling on them,” he said. “You may be able to go and lift them from their seat.”