A good working relationship between teachers, school social workers, children and the police is a vital factor to make the school liaison programme successful. Police involvement in schools should be planned to help school teachers and social workers in their endeavour to instil in their students a sense of responsibility, moral values and personal discipline.
The response from schools to these approaches by police has been varied and it is the responsibility of individual SLO/SLO(Secondary) to use their initiative and common sense to "break the ice" in difficult cases. It would be quite wrong for SLO /SLO(Secondary) to devote the majority of their time on schools which are helpful and co-operative; this is the easy approach. Maximum effort should be concentrated on those schools which for one reason or another, reject our approaches.
Over the years, our contacts with schools have tended to be confined to formal visits, general talks and road safety activities. SLO/SLO(Secondary) should, through the arrangements of their PCROs, encourage uniformed patrol officers to establish casual contacts with school teachers and students in their beat area. Community relations are best performed by officers who have direct involvement. It is not essential that the SLO/SLO(Secondary) delivers all talks to schools. He should arrange for guest police experts to talk on their own topics.
Contact and involvement with schools necessarily depend on local conditions. No hard and fast rules can be laid down for practice and there is no single model of the best practices that could apply universally to all schools. Involvement is governed by variable factors such as the extent of delinquent behaviour of students in particular schools, and the acceptance of police presence and advice by school authorities. Nevertheless good relations with the schools are of prime importance and every effort is to be made to establish them on a friendly and constructive basis.
The SLO/SLO(Secondary) will maintain regular contact with officers of the District Anti-Triad Section (DATS) to co-ordinate school liaison, activities in a concerted approach to achieve optimal effect and productivity.
While SLOs/SLO (Secondary)s should try every means to arouse students’ awareness on prevalent juvenile crime and pitfalls for youngsters, they should, however, avoid getting into circumstances where there may be conflict between their role as school liaison officers and law enforcement officers. Once an offence or alleged offence has been committed, it should be handled by way of established police procedures. SLOs/SLO (Secondary)s should not get involved in an actual case as investigators, or act as mediators between schools and parents. Nor should they play the role of discipline masters or school social workers.
Unruly Behaviour
Unruly behaviour does not necessarily constitute an offence. It is not uncommon for SLOs/SLO(Secondary)s to receive requests from schools relating to students displaying unruly behaviour, e.g. disobeying orders, rude mannerism, disputes between students, playing truant and so forth. When a request/referral of this nature is received, it should be explained to school management that such behavioural problems are outwith the law enforcement spectrum and should be dealt with by teachers and/or social workers.
School Bullying
School bullying and violence has been a hot topical issue since the wide media coverage on 2004-02-13 of a video clipping depicting a student assaulted by a group of classmates. Since then, each case of similar nature has been attracting extensive media attention and SLOs/SLO(Secondary)s are expected to play a significant role in monitoring and preventing school bullying cases.
When a referral of school bullying is received, SLO/SLO (Secondary) has to establish if the bullying act amounts to an offence. If not, it should be explained to the school management that the act is merely a kind of unruly behaviour and it is not necessary to get police involved. The school should resolve the matter by way of internal disciplinary system and/or seek assistance from the school social worker. If the case amounts to or suspected to amount to an offence, the SLO/SLO (Secondary) should take action as per the following paragraphs.
Reporting of Offences
In circumstances where an offence has or may have been committed and the SLO/SLO(Secondary) is informed for advice, the SLO/SLO(Secondary) should focus on giving practical advice on law enforcement issues and the usual procedures taken by police. Once an SLO/SLO (Secondary) is satisfied that the alleged offence falls within the purview of police inquiry, he/she should endeavour to facilitate the reporting of the case to the police station for follow up action as soon as possible, adopting a low profile approach.
If the school management is not yet certain whether to make a formal report to police or not, the SLO/SLO (Secondary) should advise the school management that Police have a duty to investigate all reported cases, irrespective of their gravity. The procedures and possible consequences following a report to police should be explained. However, some delinquent incidents of a minor nature, depending on circumstances of the case and the attitude of the involved parties, may be best handled by way of school disciplinary system and counseling by teachers and /or social workers.
On the other hand, if the nature of the incident is serious in the judgment of the SLO/SLO(Secondary), for instance, cases involving physical injuries requiring medical treatment, triads, drugs, gangs etc., the school management should be strongly advised to report the case to police as soon as possible. SLO/SLO(Secondary) should also bring the matter to the attention of PCRO, DVC or District School Support Team of DATS if necessary, and/or report to the Duty Officer if he considers it necessary for police to take immediate action. SLO/SLO (Secondary)should also monitor the progress of the case.
