There are concerns over the “nonsensical and dangerous” deployment of police support officers to schools in Cairns as part of the Queensland government’s severe new youth justice policies.
Quietly announced as part of this package earlier this month was that the first cohort of “school-based police support officers” would be placed in schools in Cairns, an area where Indigenous Australians account for nearly 12 percent of the population.
The announcement included no more information on what these officers will be doing in the schools, whether they will be armed, and why they are necessary.
The state government has since clarified that they are not sworn police officers and will not carry guns or tasers, but has provided no further information on their role, or how it will differ from the existing school-based policing programs, with officers in 57 schools around the state.
The new support officers will provide “early intervention” in these schools, state government MP Cynthia Lui said.
“Early intervention is critical, we need to get to troubled youths and support them before they turn into recidivist offenders,” Lui said.
There are concerns that the new program will place more young people, especially Indigenous children, into the criminal justice system, and that it will do little to address the state government’s stated aim of targeted the “hardcore recidividst” offenders.
Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman questioned the need for more police officers in the state’s schools, and whether the funding could be more effective in social programs.
“Cops don’t prevent crime, and increased contact with the criminal justice system only reinforces criminal behaviour and recidivism,” Berkman said.
“It’s nonsensical and dangerous to put more kids, and First Nations kids in particular, under the purview of QPS. If the government wants to increase attendance and help kids, instead of cops they should fund free breakfast and lunch programs in Queensland state schools.”
Berkam questioned the purpose of the school-based support officers in Parliament this week.
In response, police minister Mark Ryan confirmed the officers will not be armed.
“These school-based support officers are not sworn officers. They are like police liaison officers. They are about building a connection between schools, vulnerable families and the Queensland Police Service,” Ryan said.
“They will be specially trained in engaging with young people, supporting young people and making sure young people have the referrals they need to lead good lives, and it builds on our very proud reputation of intervening early and investing in early intervention and prevention services.
“We know that there is still that hardcore recidivist group that we are working harder with.”
Berkman questioned whether this “hardcore recidivist group” will be found in schools which will be hosting the police officers.
“When the police minister says they’re putting police in schools for the ‘hardcore 10 percent of recidivist young offenders’, it lays bare how politically driven and devoid of logic or evidence this is,” he said.
“Does he seriously think they’ll find those kids in schools?”
Last year’s state budget provided funding for the rollout of 125 police liaison officers and school-based police support officers. This is already a school-based policing program, a joint initiative between Queensland Police and Education Queensland. There are currently 51 of these officers in 58 schools in the state.
The program aims to “establish positive relationships between police and the secondary school community to contribute to a safe and supportive learning environment”, the government said.
Victoria is currently the only state that does not have a police in schools program after its own scheme was abolished in 2006. The Liberal Opposition did promise 100 police officers in schools in the state as part of the most recent election campaign.
Police officers are common in schools in the US, but a number of schools have ended their relationships with local police departments due to concerns they are more of a threat than form of protection.
Schools in Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland have all recently removed police officers, with the Seattle superintendent saying that the presence of police in schools “prohibits many students and staff from feeling fully safe”.
Denham Sadler is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne. He covers politics and technology regularly for InnovationAus, and writes about other issues, including criminal justice, for publications including The Guardian and The Saturday Paper. He is also the senior editor of The Justice Map, a project to strengthen advocacy for criminal justice reform in Australia. You can follow him on Twitter.
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