DATE: Tuesday, October 14, 1997             TAG: 9710140268

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   53 lines

AT HEARING, MOST SPEAKERS WANT CUFFS IN NORFOLK SCHOOLS

More than half of the 13 speakers who addressed school administrators Monday night asked school officials to give security officers the authority to use handcuffs in emergency situations.

Administrators held the public hearing at Lafayette-Winona Middle School to receive public input on whether security officers in the district's high and middle schools should use the restraints on individuals who become a danger to themselves or others.

The School Board has wrestled with the proposal for the past two months, delaying a vote last month in order to hear from the community.

The board is expected to vote at its Oct. 23 meeting.

Norview High School senior Shanee Jones told the crowd of about 60 of a lunchroom brawl in which a fighting student broke away from school administrators and hurt three students.

``If they had proper equipment, maybe, maybe those students wouldn't have been injured,'' Jones said.

Under the proposal, security officers would use handcuffs to restrain individuals only after verbal and physical controls had failed. The district's coordinator of security would monitor handcuff use to ensure that proper procedures were followed.

While the majority of board members seem to support the idea of restraints, several members, and many in the community, have concerns: Handcuffing students might appear too aggressive. Security officers, though trained by the Norfolk Police Department, don't receive the rigorous training that police officers do.

Security guards, however, are sworn through the courts and have arrest powers and police authority on school grounds.

Some of Monday night's speakers said using handcuffs isn't the answer to ending violent behavior.

``We're supposed to be teaching young people to be useful citizens,'' said Norfolk resident Charles Broadfield. ``Using handcuffs begets anger, begets anger, begets anger.''

But security officers have requested handcuffs for years, saying that the restraints can quickly, and more easily, defuse volatile situations.

When they have to physically restrain individuals, some officers say, they further risk hurting themselves and others, and are then too busy to respond to other emergencies.

Handcuffs might be easier than using pepper spray, some officers have said, since the spray can spread and affect others.

Norfolk is the only local school district that doesn't have personnel carrying handcuffs.

All other South Hampton Roads school systems have police officers in high schools - and in some middle schools - who carry guns and handcuffs. Norfolk would be the only district with security officers using handcuffs. KEYWORDS: HANDCUFFS NORFOLK SCHOOLS

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