D.C. school security may fall in police department's hands

Feb 26, 2004 12:00 PM

In the midst of an academic year that has seen one student gunned down in a school hallway and another killed outside a school, Washington, D.C. lawmakers are considering changes that would task the city's police chief with overseeing school security.
"There would be a seamless approach to crime fighting efforts in the neighborhoods in and around these schools where the problems have taken place," District of Columbia Councilman Kevin P. Chavous told The Associated Press.
Chavous introduced draft legislation last week that would transfer control of school security from the superintendent of D.C. Public Schools to Chief Charles H. Ramsey of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.
"The superintendent should be focused on the academic needs of our kids, and not security," said Chavous, who chairs the council committee overseeing schools and libraries. The plan would place the $15 million District of Columbia school system security budget under Ramsey's control.

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