THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502090440
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Two eastern North Carolina legislators on Wednesday called for $20 million in spending over the next two years for local school systems to help pay for police officers to patrol schools.
Sens. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, and Ed N. Warren, D-Pitt, have filed legislation in the Senate to establish grants to school systems that need help in paying for police officers.
The bill would provide $10 million in 1995-96 and in 1996-97 for the grants which would be allocated by the state Board of Education.
Albertson and Warren discussed details of their proposal at a press conference in Raleigh.
``A major priority in North Carolina is to make sure that we have safe schools,'' Warren said in an interview before the press conference. ``I believe this bill is a vehicle for doing this.''
More than 6,000 acts of violence occurred in North Carolina schools in the 1993-94 school year, leading to 2,000 arrests, according to the two lawmakers.
Citing an increase in school violence in recent years, Albertson said that having police officers in the hallways, classrooms and elsewhere on school grounds can be a ``tremendous resource in our efforts to improve school safety.''
Police officers in schools can serve as role models for young people as well as enforcing the law and ensuring school safety.
Washington City Schools were the first in the northeast to bring a police officer into the schools, about three years ago. Through an agreement between the city school board and local police department, a police officer was assigned to routinely patrol the local high school during the school year and coordinate law enforcement needs in other city schools.
Since then, police officers have become a regular feature in many eastern counties, including Dare, Pitt and Onslow counties. Several other schools, including Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County schools, contract with security guards to provide that service.
``In talks with local school principals, I have learned that these programs have worked remarkably well to control school violence and discipline problems,'' Albertson said in an interview after the press briefing. by CNB