Board to vote on cops on campus

Jessica Garrison

NEWPORT-MESA -- The School Board will vote tonight on whether to

spend approximately $70,000 a year to station police officers at Newport

Beach secondary schools.

“I think the kids will benefit,” Board Member James Ferryman said.

The proposal, which the City Council approved Monday, calls for one

full-time officer at Newport Harbor High School and one officer who would

split time between Ensign Intermediate School and Corona del Mar High

School.

The officers, who would start in February, would teach classes on

resisting drug abuse and would also investigate crimes committed on

campus.

But they will not be there just to keep an eye on students, said Mike

McDermott of the Newport Beach Police Department.

“They’re not going to be up there being drug cops,” McDermott said.

Their primary function, he said, would be to act as a resource for

students, especially when it comes to drug education.

Although students are given an extensive education in the dangers of drug

abuse in elementary school, Mcdermott said, “there’s no follow when

they’re facing those decision.”

The city of Newport Beach will also pay about $70,000, the other half of

the officers’ salaries.

The school district would also have to foot the bill for training and

equipment for the two officers, as well as half the cost of a police car,

which would total about $17,500.

The school district’s portion of the program would come from a new state

grant designed to augment school security, according to Mike Fine, the

school district’s assistant superintendent for business services.

“I love the idea,” said Ensign principal Alan Mucerino. “I think to have

a positive police presence is wonderful for students.”

Mucerino added that he does not view the program as a way to bust

students, but rather as a way to educate them about law enforcement and

criminal justice issues.

“I wouldn’t expect them to be a cop on campus,” he said. “I would love to

use their experiences for our education, whether it be through

assemblies, or classroom experiences.”

Many students, including Alexandra Robinson, a student government leader

at Newport Harbor High School, said they hadn’t even heard of the

program.

Alexandra said she thought the officers’ No. 1 priority should be the

district’s beleaguered 4210 policy.

That policy calls for students caught using drugs or alcohol to be

transferred to another school, but students and parents claim it is both

unfair and unfairly enforced.

“They need to reform it so they can stick to it,” she said.

The School Board will also hear a report from Supt. Robert Barbot’s

Facilities Advisory Committee, which for the last two months has been

studying the question of how to pay for repairs to district classrooms.