School board approves policy on police relations

Guidelines govern action of school administrators when police get involved

By: Courtney Gross
   An internal regulation intended to guide school administrators in handling incidents involving law enforcement officials on school property was approved by the Princeton Regional Board of Education in what could be the last response to the apprehension of several students from Princeton High School last September.
   The regulation, approved by a 5-3 vote Tuesday evening, implements a policy approved by the board in January that merely acknowledges a statewide memorandum of agreement mandated by the Office of the Attorney General.
   Both township and borough police officials said they could not comment specifically on the regulation, having not seen the final draft that was approved. But in response to its passage, police officials in both towns said the statewide memorandum and not the board’s new policy on internal administration procedures guides them.
   Princeton Township Police Chief Mark Emann said he had seen an initial draft of the regulation several weeks ago and was satisfied with its contents. The chief also characterized the document as something the Police Department and school officials "could all work with."
   He added, "The bottom line for this police department is we follow the Attorney General’s guidelines and guidelines by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s office," Chief Emann said. "Our main goal is the safety of the individual students and the student population at large, and naturally, the staff of the schools," he added. Apprehending students from school that are under investigation, needed for questioning or under arrest is a last resort, Chief Emann explained.
   Borough Police Lt. Nicholas Sutter, who spoke on behalf of Borough Chief of Police Anthony Federico who is on vacation, said the department is obligated to abide by the statewide memorandum of agreement, and all other regulations do not apply to them. "Anything that contradicts that or doesn’t abide by that doesn’t apply to us," Lt. Sutter said of the statewide memorandum.
   The Board of Education took on the effort to develop an internal regulation after Princeton Borough police apprehended four students from the high school last September in connection with a series of robberies and beatings allegedly conducted by black individuals against Hispanics.
   The students were subsequently charged with complicity to robbery, but those charges were dropped by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s office in January, citing a lack of evidence.
   Although the district is required to abide by the state agreement, the board chose to regulate similar incidents that could occur in the future by drafting and subsequently approving the internal regulation.
   "Regulations are internal. They are the guiding factors for administrators," Superintendent Judy Wilson said. "I think our regulation goes to good length to be specific about commutation with parents and minimizing disruption of the educational process," she added.
   In the coming months, the superintendent added, the board would draft amendments to the statewide memorandum of agreement and submit them to the state.
   The board regulation prohibits police from taking students into custody if the officer does not have a warrant, a docketed petition or a judicial order. The regulation also outlines responses to requests for juvenile school records from police, police responses to incidents occurring on campus and law enforcement responses at school to incidents that occur off school property and outside school hours.
   The initial draft of the regulation would have given school principals the authority to prevent the questioning of a student by a police officer if a parent could not be contacted. Following the draft’s review by police, said Board Vice President Alan Hegedus, who voted for the regulation, that provision was deleted.
   Noting the lack of any written regulation before, Mr. Hegedus said the 14-page document runs "parallel" to the attorney general’s agreement and offers detailed instructions to school administrators.
   "It really brings that statewide rather large umbrella statement from the attorney general, (and) it’s bringing it down to the local level and giving it life," Mr. Hegedus said.
   School board member Walter Bliss, who voted against the document, said he would like to see the school board follow through on amending the statewide agreement. Ultimately, Mr. Bliss noted, the police should respect administrators as much as parents and not treat schools as "the avenue of least resistance."