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  • Policy KLG: School Relations with Police Services

    At the January 16 Public meeting, the Louis Riel School Division Board of Trustees passed for First Reading Policy KLG: School Relations with Police Services. The policy was presented to the Board following a year-long process reviewing our legislated responsibilities as a public school system, research into similar policies in place nationally and internationally and an examination of protocols developed by government bodies and individual school districts. 

    The policy which directs the development of a Police/School Board Protocol seeks to: 

    1. Ensure a consistent approach when schools engage with police services; 
    2. Clearly delineate decision-making authority; 
    3. Articulate agreed-upon procedures for responding to situations that require police consultation or intervention; 
    4. Promote dialogue and the establishment and maintenance of effective relationships between schools and police services based on cooperation and shared understandings; 
    5. Respect the rights of victims and witnesses, as well as those of alleged perpetrators. 

    The policy will now undergo a thorough and robust review process in which community feedback is invited. Student, staff, and community consultations will take place in the coming months. In addition, individual feedback can be shared at communications@lrsd.net. 





    Legislated responsibilities are the laws and directives that must be followed. In a public school system these include The Public Schools Act, The Manitoba Human Rights Code, The Education Administration Act, and The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

     

    Policies and protocols from across Canada were reviewed; for example Ontario’s Model for Local Police/School Board Protocol and British Columbia’s Guide for Maintaining School Safety: For School and Police Personnel in B.C. and individual school district policies, for example, School District 8 Kootenay Lake AP 3306: Police Investigations in Schools.

     

    Policies and protocols from across the world were reviewed; for example the United Kingdom’s National Police Chief’s Council: National Strategy for Policing of children and Young People..

     

    The most common meaning of protocol is “a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed.” Protocols examined in preparation for this policy include those developed by school districts in Ontario based on the provincial direction received. For example, Hamilton-Wentworth Police/School Board Protocol was developed in 2016 and the Child Centred Approach to Policing: When to Call Police developed by the United Kingdom’s National Police Chief’s Council.