Brooklyn Park police pull school resource officers after fight inside Park Center Senior High School
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — The Brooklyn Park Police Department is joining a growing list of Minnesota law enforcement agencies pulling officers from schools.
The announcement to pull school resource officers from Brooklyn Park schools was made after a fight inside Park Center Senior High School on Thursday afternoon.
"There was a fight between some students and right now we are investigating an assault on a staff member," said Inspector Elliot Faust with the Brooklyn Park Police Department.
An assistant principal was assaulted while trying to break up the fight, but police say their decision to pull SROs was made before Thursday's incident.
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"I can share with you that the SROs do not feel comfortable being in the schools in the capacity that they were in and with that feedback, the chief made the decision to pull the SROs. And it wasn't solely because of the incident that happened yesterday, it was a factor in the decision," Faust said.
The new state law prohibits officers and school staff from using certain physical holds on students unless they're deemed a threat to themselves and others.
Some agencies raised concerns about officers' ability to do the job under the new law.
"We've had two weeks of school now and we've encountered several different incidents that have been, well, I call them very challenging," Faust said.
Brooklyn Park police says it is committed to the safety of students and staff in the district.
"We believe 100% in our SRO program," Faust said. "We have extremely talented folks who are in that unit who have incredible relationships with students so to throw that all away is not the right call. So the chief immediately triaged the situation by reassigning them to patrol officers around the schools."
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BPPD believes officers can still be effective in keeping school campuses safe by being close by in case they are needed.
Three different police departments have SROs in Osseo Schools, including Park Center Senior High.
While Brooklyn Park decided to pull its SROs, two other departments are keeping them inside schools.
