Peel Regional Police is dissolving its School Resource Officer (SRO) program because it “caused a negative impact on segments of our student population,” they said in a release on Wednesday night.
Posted Nov 19, 2020, 05:58AM EST
Peel Regional Police is dissolving its School Resource Officer (SRO) program because it “caused a negative impact on segments of our student population,” they said in a release on Wednesday night.
Earlier this year the decades old program was paused because the force said it had not changed it 20 years and “required significant review.” They acknowledged that there were long-standing concerns about systemic racism in the SRO program and “and the disproportionately punitive effects this type of traditional programming can produce.”
The review focused specifically on police interactions with students and a community-facing committee worked with police to understand the lived experiences of those affected by the program.
“Based on recommendations made by those most negatively impacted by this programming, the SRO program no longer exists,” they said in the release.
The force says it is publicly acknowledging that “change is necessary.”
“Moving forward, PRP will continue to work with our community regarding student engagement programming,” they said.
