DATE: Friday, October 24, 1997              TAG: 9710240751

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   85 lines

BOARD ALLOWS HANDCUFFS FOR SAFETY NORFOLK IS LAST SCHOOL DISTRICT IN HAMPTON ROADS TO APPROVE THE SECURITY MEASURE

School security officers now have the authority to handcuff students, staffers and intruders who are a physical threat to themselves and others.

The School Board approved the plan Thursday, 5-2; the officers could be equipped with the restraints in about a month.

The decision makes Norfolk the last district in South Hampton Roads to put handcuffs in schools. But in other districts, the officials with that equipment are police officers. Norfolk will be the only district to give handcuffs to their middle and high school security officers, who have arrest powers but less training than police.

The vote also comes amid heightened awareness of school safety issues after Portsmouth's Woodrow Wilson High School closed for a day last week because of student fights there.

Board members Alveta Green and Anna Dodson were the dissenters in the 5-2 vote. The issue has drawn emotional discussion in the past two months between board and community members who fear that handcuffs are a very aggressive measure and school personnel who say handcuffs are a helpful tool to maintain school order.

Green and Dodson were not convinced by proponents.

``We hired security officers to be security officers, not policemen,'' Green said before the vote. ``Giving them handcuffs, in my opinion, will create an atmosphere of false security which will further endanger students.''

Dodson said using handcuffs could be a ``potential riot-provoking incident.''

But board member Ulysses Turner said it was time to give the unarmed officers the tools they need.

``When intruders come into the school, there's a place for restraints,'' Turner said. ``I also believe our security officers are mature enough and would use them responsibly.''

Under the proposal, security officers will use handcuffs only after verbal mediation and physical holds have failed.

Most incidents severe enough to require handcuffs will end in arrest, said the district's coordinator of security, Joseph O'Brien. O'Brien said he will monitor handcuff use to make sure proper procedures are followed and will make monthly reports to the board.

Board members asked security administrators on Thursday to create specific guidelines on when restraints would be used, whether younger students would be excluded from being handcuffed, and how the handcuffs will be carried.

Specifics will be submitted to board members by the Nov. 24 board meeting. But O'Brien warned that despite guidelines, security officers would have to use their judgment. He said security officers already have been trained to use handcuffs and will receive ongoing training, and he is confident that officers will use them only when necessary.

``They know their job is to talk things out,'' O'Brien said. ``This would only come out at the end. This would be a judgment call, and I believe they would use good judgment.''

School safety is a constant issue for Norfolk. Two surveys of the city's middle school teachers and residents, both conducted earlier this year, showed that most teachers, residents and parents believe the school system needs to do more to ensure safety and to temper disruptive students.

The district also has been challenged for its student property searches to deter drugs and weapons from being taken to school. Norfolk officials say the random-search policy has dramatically reduced the number of weapons brought to schools, but the district will go to court in January to defend the policy against critics who say it violates their rights.

The board had delayed the vote on handcuffs for two months to receive community input.

Members heard from parents and residents who feared that security officers might abuse using handcuffs.

They also heard from school administrators who described students who had become so violent that they broke away from physical holds and hurt others, or required several adults to restrain them until police arrived with handcuffs.

Board member Joseph Waldo said he is confident in the ability of the district's security officers to handle the responsibility with care.

``We haven't had one report where a security officer was reported as being abusive, and they rarely use pepper spray,'' Waldo said. ``And as we've heard from others . . . this prevents the innocent from being hurt.'' MEMO: PILOT ONLINE: Is Norfolk's decision a good one? Will it help make

students and classes safer? A TalkNet discussion is on the News page at

www.pilotonline.com ILLUSTRATION: Ulysses Turner

Alveta Green KEYWORDS: NORFOLK SCHOOL BOARD NORFOLK SCHOOLS

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