School is back in session, and School Police Liaison Officers (SPLO) are back too.
To learn more about the history of the SPLO program and what it means for communities now that it is back, check out the Police-in-Schools Campaign page.
It’s all about the money, honey
At the end of the day, the SPLO program’s reinstatement is all about money.
Earlier this year, the province made a staggering and unprecedented decision to fire the elected Board of Trustees, undermining local school board jurisdiction and democratic processes. By removing the School Board and opening the door for the SPLO program to be reinstated, the BC government deflected its fiscal responsibility to invest in education and student safety onto municipal governments, who fund police departments. The SPLO program is a budgetary win-win-win for the BC Government, School District, and police. The BC government gets to keep up its image of being tough on crime without paying a dime, the School District gets resourcing to address student support challenges beyond their current capacity, and VicPD enhances its position to ask for a police budget increase to hire more officers.
But who are the “losers” in this deal?
Students lose out on evidence-based and trauma-informed programs, counselling supports, and meaningful investment in public education. Students who already have negative and traumatic associations with police lose out on having an educational environment where they do not have to worry about interactions with police. Families lose out when images of their children are shared on VicPD social media without their consent. Municipal taxpayers lose out as city budgets prioritize funding police services over community services and neighbourhood grant programs.
Action: How you can get involved
Check out the Police-in-schools Campaign page to read about the Actions you can take to support students, educators, caregivers, and our communities in fighting against the newly implemented SPLO program. And learn more about the national efforts to ensure policing-free-schools across Canada.
