CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago Public Schools Chief Janice Jackson says CPS will allow Local School Councils to decide whether Chicago police officers should continue to patrol the schools.
Some parents and advocates have complained that overly aggressive officers have mistreated and traumatized some children.
Jackson said Monday she agrees police reform is needed, but she added most principals feel officers make the schools safer and that LSC’s, as they’re known, should have the final say.
Charles Anderson, principal of Michele Clark High School on the West side, said school resource officers have established good relationships with students.
Pastor Chris Harris of Bronzeville’s Bright Star Church said people should not be driven by passions and heated rhetoric into adopting so-called solutions that might lead to other problems.
The Chicago Teachers Union favors canceling the police contract with CPS.
The issue has become a flashpoint following recent high-profile incidents of police brutality against African Americans, including the death of George Floyd.