Policing Rural Schools - There Are No Gangs in My School
Having had the pleasure to teach high school history in several rural schools in New Mexico, one being a juvenile correctional high school, the issue of gangs was to say the least, a controversial topic. Retiring as a Lieutenant Narcotics Commander with experience as a Gang Sergeant did not prepare me for the world of school politics.
An Introduction to School Politics
After retiring and armed with a newly earned Masters of Science in Secondary Education, I left New York for rural New Mexico. To start off, it’s not hot here. I retired to a beautiful mountain town in southeastern New Mexico. The first school I subbed in was a middle school in town. After several weeks of subbing I was asked to be a long term substitute for the history teacher who was convalescing after surgery. I had a good rapport with the kids, staff, and parents. After five weeks of teaching I was given the position of School Security Liaison (civilian) by the Principal. I was told by school officials to first tackle a burgeoning bully problem. After taking a two month online course on bullying, I wrote a fifty page manual to address bullying issues and to compare and contrast plans that have been successful in other jurisdictions. The manual focused on bullying behavior, the role of bystanders, and it offered several intervention strategies that if approved would be part of the school safety plan. My Principal was ecstatic with the plan, as was the school counselor. In fact, another school counselor at an adjoining school heard about the Anti-Bullying plan and was impressed enough that she said she would try to implement the plan in her school.
I was enjoying the ride! No more precinct police captains changing reports to keep numbers down. I could not wait for the Superintendent’s decision. He came to me on a Monday and told me he liked the plan. It was wonderful. He said he only wanted to change the title from Anti-Bullying to “Tolerance.” He did not want to give the community the false impression that the schools were unsafe. Six months later, the policy which still was not adopted was mothballed. From what I understand a “Tolerance” policy was implemented that was written by an educator with a PhD who had no real school experience. Welcome to the world of school politics.
I spent the spring semester concentrating on complaints of drug use on campus. After gaining intelligence, I utilized SNEU (Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit) tactics where I used school officials armed with portable radios to stop students that I had observed from blocks away (with the aid of binoculars) conduct hand to hand narcotics sales. It was an overriding success. By the end the school year I had befriended many CI’s (confidential informants) and I knew who was holding and who was using. I received prior warning of gang fights, many of them were girl on girl fights.(some resulted from text messaging.) At the end of the school year the local newspaper wrote a very positive article about my work. I left knowing that I had just bridged the surface of school politics.
Recognizing School Based Gang Behavior and Gang Affiliations
The following year I taught high school history at a rural school forty miles from my home. The population was over ninety percent Mexican. Most of the students had families that lived in this ranching community for over three hundred years. Hardly any of the students spoke even broken Spanish. From the beginning of the year I was constantly undermined by the administration when I tried to discipline students in my history class. While there were no organized gangs in the school, there were common references to “South Side” which reflected some of the school’s “wannabees.” School staff laughed at these youths who emulated gang members. Not taking these youths seriously is dangerous. As the year progressed I observed students mingling with gang members from a nearby desert town with a population of approximately 60,000. at school dances, basketball games, and other school sponsored events. It was obvious that some of my students were being indoctrinated into gang culture. I once overheard several females talking about “getting it on” over the weekend with gang members allegedly associated with the 18th Street Gang, and other local gangs. Doing the “train” with multiple gang members was their attempt to gain status and be recognized.
Some of the signs that my students were exploring the idea of joining a gang were:
a. Gang tags scribbled on class room desks and in the bathroom: Administration is quick to clean up what they term “harmless “graffiti without ever inquiring into the meaning, or for that matter finding the perpetrating student.
b. Signs of Physical Abuse- Teachers typically turn a blind eye when students come into class on Monday with black eyes and welts on the body. Upon inquiry the student may tell me “I just had a fight over the weekend.” I’ve subtly inquired with other students by asking “What happened to Sammy?” and other students, especially the lower grades (7th graders and eighth) will be quick to tell me “Sammy got beat down on Friday and hung out with them the next night.”
c. Harmless gang “wannabe’s” who are currently enrolled may assault another student to gain some respect. It doesn’t have to be a brutal all out beat down by twelve gang members. Two or three youths trying to get attention and gain respect may work over another student in the bathroom or during recess. They may also shake him down for cigarette money. I’ve seen staff laugh about what they consider “childish fooling around.”
d. Alcohol, Drug Abuse, Absences and Decline in Grades- are possible signs that a student is hanging out with the wrong crowd. Teachers have to talk to the youths to do everything in their power to prevent them from dropping out. Once they are on the street they may be recruited by gangs by performing burglaries and/or dealing drugs in, or around their former school. Drop outs give gang members access to new youths from their previous school to recruit.
The Interrelationship between S.R.O.’s, Students, and School Staff in Rural Schools
For the new School Resource Officer managing the interrelationships between police officers, students, and school staff is tenuous and frequently problematic. The new S.R.O. will quickly find out that a military creased uniform will not win converts. When I was an S.R.O.(as a police officer and later a civilian S.R.O.) I’ve found that compassion for students was paramount. However, S.R.O.’s have to be upfront in the beginning of what information will be taken “in confidence” and other information that will be reported. I’ve found that with school drug dealing investigations and gang investigations it is of primary importance that students trust the S.R.O. not to divulge their names to alleged gang members. I typically compile all my intelligence garnered from my student informants and wait for a considerable time (a couple of weeks) before taking action so that the gang member/dealer has no idea who turned him in. Again, informant safety is paramount. To further this I’ve covertly slipped my cell phone number to student informers and sometimes meet them off campus. In all situations I keep the Principal properly informed and I always meet in a public location, preferably with another staff present. The S.R.O. must also decide whether or not to notify the informant’s parents. This is something that is best decided after collaboration with the school’s Principal and concerned student. As for taking action I’m talking about investigations that do not involve imminent threats. The S.R.O./Principal will take immediate action concerning tips of school shootings, bombings, etc.
Dealing with school staff is equally problematic. For the most part school staff, especially teachers like to run their own show. They may feel that the S.R.O position is unnecessary (at least until the first gang related shooting or assault occurs.) I’ve even spoken to a school Principal that once told me, “I think we have too much security. We don’t need a police state here. I don’t want the kids to feel threatened.” S.R.O.’s have to feel out each staff member. An S.R.O. should not assume that just because a certain female teacher is a card carrying A.C.L.U. member that she will not cooperate in gang related investigations. If the proper relationship is developed at the onset she may be your best asset. I knew of one such teacher that rumor had it that she once took a student twenty years ago for an abortion. She also allegedly had a student tattooed by a friend of hers. By developing a good relationship with her and helping her from time to time (taking unruly students out of her class when asked, and giving public safety talks to students, etc.) we developed a mutually advantageous relationship.
Be especially careful when recruiting teachers and other staff (custodians, monitors, etc.) for confidential gang/and or narcotics investigations. I’ve had success by recruiting solid people such as veteran teachers and Principals, but I stay clear of staff that are prone to gossip or who may intentionally or unintentionally compromise your investigation. As an S.R.O. you have to know school case law. You will be surprised of the authority Principals and teachers have in conducting locker, personal, and even parking lot vehicle searches. S.R.O.’s must also be cognizant that in some cases courts have ruled that staff members acting on request of police are in fact agents and thus must follow every Constitutional provision that police officers must follow (e.g. Miranda, and Search and Seizure, etc.)
In closing, like urban schools rural school administrators have a vested interest in keeping stats down. Keeping gangs, bullying, and narcotics dealing “under the radar” is the dirty little secret of many small towns and rural locales. Towns depend on the influx of new money in the form of increased taxes as urban dwellers uproot their families from high crime, poor school district cities to smaller, safer towns and villages. By working with school staff and understanding their motivations S.R.O.’s (and gang investigators, etc.) can better gauge the level of success they will be able to achieve.
By William F. Dement
Lieutenant Commander
Narcotics, N.Y.P.D. (retired)
