Yes- I bet all of those teachers who walk down the hallway with their heads down and wont say a word to a kid who is skipping class, but they will be the first to call the police. All those teachers who come up to the police and say the kids wont listen to them. Look how many times the police had to be called to save a teachers butt from a student who has threatened them because the teacher talked disrespectful to them. If the kids know there are no police in the building I would sure hate to see the outcome of the Indianapolis Public Schools. If you think things are bad now just wait and see. Would that make you get out of your room and step up to the plate or would you be one of those teachers with blindfolds on and hide in your room. From your comment you're probably one of those teachers who has a blindfold on because you have no idea what really goes on in a school.
No, from my perspective and experience, reducing the number of IPS School Police would not have a negative impact on my role as a classroom teacher or on how my classroom is managed.
Evidently each school has its own particular culture and its own method on doing things. When I was at Arlington, there was an over population of folks who were supposedly in charge of school security, including IPS School Police and the Security Dads. The IPS School Police were very clear in their job descriptions - they didn't remove kids from classrooms unless an administrator had ordered the child's removal. That may sound like a good thing; however, when a student was throwing desks around a classroom and no administrator could be reached, the School Police would just stand in the hallway and act as if everything was hunky-dory even though they could see the desks being thrown in the classroom.
The Security Dads, for the most part, just hung around the front door and then alternated between the front door and the Parent Center where there was an ample supply of coffee and doughnuts. The Security Dads spent most of their time 'jaw-boning' with the female instructional assistants and the Parent Center ladies.
There was a decidedly 'feel good' atmosphere surrounding the Security Dads and the IPS School Police at Arlington. It was reminiscent of an old Southern homecoming or revival tent meeting.
Perhaps all this has changed since Greenwood is no longer at Arlington, but security measures at Arlington during my time there were not enforced despite the large number of security personnel assigned to duty in the the physical plant.
Praise the Lord and pass the plate! The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis are about to step up to bat and save our schools from losing School Police and custodians.
This measure is also known as "saving your friends' and relatives' jobs". Far too many of the jobs in IPS are designated to folks who are not certified personnel. IPS has become a 'make jobs' place for friends, buddies, cronies, church associates, and cousins of somebody. These 'make jobs' recipients are not teachers, but rather, they are many of our classified employees who know somebody who knows somebody who knows Dr. White or a School Board member. IPS has become little more than a political patronage employer for non-skilled labor. I'm tired of this, and I'm tired of hearing that custodians and school police will be cut, like we really worry about these people's "can't live without" contributions toward raising achievement scores for our students.
Sure, these folks support the schools operation, but they are not 'necessary' for raising achievement levels of our students. If you think otherwise, then you're deluding yourself and/or have an uncle, cousin, or relative who is a custodian or a school security person.
We can't have our cake and eat it, too. The line must be drawn somewhere. Are you willing to give up your career job as a professional educator so that somebody's cousin or uncle can be an IPS School Security Officer? I'm not.
Look you bitch face's we are ILEA certified police, So you can take your IPS school security officer which are not the police and stick them up your ASS. Because that is what will happen when the IPS police are gone from the schools. Then you will see what the police do. So when you are getting jacked in your class room by the dough boy's, sur 13, or the LK you can go cry yor sorry ass to DR. Giles and PIMP White that the school police are a $6,000,000 pain in IPS butt and PIMP White can tell the school board that we don't need school police. Pimp White can also tell the state that school police cost to much money and why he is worth $250,000 dollars a year when he is a sorry sack of shit. By the way the golf cart has been broke at TECH for about 5 months.
My, My, My.... some "real cop wanabe" is feeling a little threatened aren't they? When IPS police started refusing to work with the staff as part of the team in favor of their "that's not my job" attitude, they started digging their own grave.
At Tech, the school police will not come to a classroom and they will not tell loitering students to go to class. They do not see that as their role. They primarily ride the golf carts around and take lunch orders for their friends.
About 3 years ago, the 'head' School Police at Arlington HS was given the stage at a full faculty meeting by Jackie Greenwood so that he could tell us, the faculty, just exactly what his people 'would and would not' do for the teachers. He cooked his goose with us after that performance on the Arlington stage. He pranced around, waved his arms in the air, and generally sounded like a pentecostal preacher on a Sunday morning preaching to the sinners. Maybe he's no longer with IPS, but by golly, he made a real lasting impression; a bad impression!
I value the IPS police. I am a Secondary Teacher and I find the IPS Police to be professional and most do their job well. Any job or profession would have those that do nothing. (Look at some teachers.)But by and large, they are a value, not a detriment. If there are less of them I would miss them. Maybe teachers should start carrying pepper spray or mace. Guns? Hmmmmmm. Get one thinking doesn't it? I love teaching but if a kid brings weapons to school, how should we defend ourselves? By building a positive relationship with the student? Right.
Thanks above poster. Here is a thought. If you just want to slap someone on here (becuase you don;t have the guts to do it in person), start your own blog. This is a great forum for discussing things without comments such as "bitch faces" and the use of profanity. I find this blog interesting and I am an adult and can take it but the true nature of may IPS employees is really showing on here. Most of the complaints are about how we are treated by administrators. You have to act the same way you want to be treated. (Maybe you were absent in Elementary School and missed that.) You want to be treated as a professional. THEN ACT LIKE ONE!
Dr. White's intentions for not having the police respond everytime a student wouldn't listen to a teacher is because he wanted better classroom management and he wanted the administrators to be involved more. If the administrator couldn't handle the student, then there would be a need to get the police involved. There has been plenty of times this had happened and sometimes it required the student to be arrested. The police don't need to be called for every situation. You need to ask yourself what law has the student broken. Police presence at the school is important because it deters alot from happening. Teachers don't have any idea about how much garbage gets brought to the school from what happens in the community. I'm sure you have heard about the shootings over the last few weekends, but I bet you didn't know the impact it had on some of the schools. I think the police are needed at the schools and wouldn't like to see them go.
If a huge fight breaks out in my room, if some kid brings a weapon to my room, or if drugs on a student appear in my room, then I can always pick up the telephone, dial 9 for an outside line, and then punch in 911.
Fights, weapons, and drugs inside a public school are no different than at the local mall. Too often fights, weapons, and drugs in the school hallways are treated differently than if at the mall. School police occasionally, if not more, act as covers for the school administration and try to keep things quiet and under wraps about what really goes on in IPS.
How many teachers do you know or have heard about who were hit, pushed, shoved, or assaulted by a teenager in IPS, yet nothing ever happened? If the same thing happened in the local mall, then the kid would be behind arrested within minutes.
The school police used to be partners of teachers but then came this attitude of "it's not my job". Unfortunately now there job seems to be to cover up an incident so that the media will not find out. They have ceased to have any value as far as teachers are concerned and are now simply stooges for Eugene White. We have been advised that if you have a situation in your room, call 911.
FYI when you call 911 and talk to an IMPD dispatcher they call IPS police dispatch which then they call the IPS police that are in the school. So all you did was waste time if it was a true incident. Don't plan on IMPD to care if a kid tells to you to fuck off. Then you will see that IMPD wont respond to stupid calls like I can't control a 2nd grade kid. Then you will see how much BS the school police put up with.
There is a difference between poor classroom management (a kid using profanity, causing disruption, refusing to work), and a situation that requires police.
Yeah, if your intent is to use the police because a student calls you an asshole, then maybe the student is right. Seriously, they are for emergencies, not to be a classroom managers. That is the job of the teacher. Duh!
When does the teachers take responsibility for their classrooms and the administrators help out when needed. Too many administrators just standing in the hallways and letting students act as they please.
I think teachers are not talking about name calling but about fights, threats, refusal to leave classroom and behaviors that cause an immediate threat.....4 school police riding around on a golf cart saying "that is not my job" is not helpful. Replace them all or change their job descriptions. Get them in the buildings and get them visible. That is what cities have discovered to be very effective. It is called community policing.
Why not shut down Attucks, Shortridge,and Marshall. Those schools could be blended into other half empty buildings. Those programs could be considered Magnets in the new buldings.
Heck Manual and Arlington do not even have magnets and are half full.
Stop sending the regular kids from the Broad Ripple area (gas eats money and more bus drivers are needed). Just have the magnet with a regular small district area.
Think folks we can combine many programs and buildings. Look at the Key School they are combinine their two campuses.
Time to do the same and shutter these buldings. Sell them off. We do not have the enrollment to keep them open. Keeping them open and paying for upkeep cost. How many IPS police and teachers and programs can be saved by closing the archaic buidings? Keep the programs but make them magnets at other locations.
If a student calls a teacher something inappropriate, whether you think that teacher "deserves" it or not, you are allowing or encouraging behavior that will get them fired once they get out into the real world. We've all had bosses or supervisors who weren't great, but calling them names doesn't fix anything, and will causes people to lose their jobs!
Good point. They should close those buildings down because they are not being utilized. Hard to justify heating empty space. The only thing is, it would just reduce the number of places to get free coffee for the IPS Police.
What makes you think a mayor who won't let you legally carry a gun in a city park will allow you to carry a gun to your IPS classroom in order to protect yourself and more importantly your students? Please keep the IPS cops! You won't care about ISTEP scores if you're dead!
Columbine, Virginia Tech and Jamar Bess, enough said!
What good is a school police office if he/she is riding around in a golf cart and delivering fast food orders to the administrators and whose response to a call for assistance is "that isn't my job". It is already illegal to carry a gun in a school so the mayor has nothing to do with this. I do agree with the mayor that we don't need to open the city parks to the gun toters either.
The problem is that criminals do not follow laws and will take a gun wherever they please including a school or a park. As for schools, that is why we rely on a police force. They are needed to ensure safety. I know some have mentioned lazy officers, but I have seen a lot of professionalism with those officers I have dealt with.
I want to give a shout out to Ms. Bakehorn at School 54. We were told she was heading to Central Office but now she's back for at least the rest of the year. Julie is exactly what CO needs, she will clean up any department she takes over. Who else is doing a good job this year? Bad?
There is no way to quantify the amount of bad stuff the IPS cops have thwarted, so is this a good reason to lay them off? IPS cops deter a lot, and nobody realizes it because it can't be accurately quantified. How many Jamars are out there lying in wait? That's a chance I'm not willing to take.
I do not feel that some IPS police do their jobs! I had a student in my class (elementary) with a knife and the police were a NO SHOW! I tried to call county police and were told that they could not help me because it was the IPS police's job. Go figure. Luckily myself or a student were not stabbed as intended or IPS would have had to sweep another story under their RUG! I am all about helping a child, but there is not a lot a teacher can do in the middle of a fight with weapons. Do you know how many elementary schools have had guns in their buildings in IPS in the last few years...last year.. this year?? How many have we heard of on the news....maybe 2.
If IPS gets rid of their police department, we may end up with another Columbine experience. We have way to many gang members, and/or other thugs who think they can come into our schools and rule them. I thank god for the IPS School Police. There are way to many other things that IPS can cut before they cut the police department
I guess you have missed the point of many of us have been saying. In the last couple of years, the IPS police department has developed an attitude which they express verbally that there job is not to monitor students or patrol the halls or campus or even interact with teachers and students. Somewhere in the mix, they got the attitude that they were there for administrative duties. Many times we have been told to call 911 but 911 just says to call IPS police. The police offices has gotten grander and the officers spend more time there in "meetings". The value to school, students and teachers has gotten so minimal that I think it might be a good place to cut expenses. If they had continued functioning like they did several years ago when they were a part of the team and visible and helpful, I would not feel that way.
How productive is this website? All it does is turn one group against another. We all should be working together to prevent these kids from taking over our schools. There are a lot of IPS officers who work very well with staff members and there are some who don't, but we could say the same about teachers too. Why don't we stop all the criticism and concentrate on working together.
But if we concentrate on working together, then we accept some of the responsibility for being part of the solution. And IPS-BS wants nothing to do with personal responsibility.
If one does not care for this website, then respectfully move on. There are an abudnace of websites out there. According to: http://techcrunchies.com/how-many-websites-totally-on-the-worldwide-web/ ,there are 156 million other ones out there. I am sure one of those would suit your taste.
As for THE TOPIC: The police force could use some changes just like some adminstrators and some teachers. I woudl hate to see the police go if I am in a situation where I am assaulted.
If you were to be assaulted, the IPS police would not be there to prevent it or to stop it. They would eventually show up to take a statement and do their administrative paperwork. You would have to rely on students and other staff members to break it up. Just a hard cold fact of life.
I work in an elementary. Everyone thinks nothing happens at the elementary level that would require school police. WRONG! Forget kids for a moment...parents have become a threat too. The elementary school is a playground for ghetto-fabulous parents to come and perform for an audience of students in grades K-6. They come in tag-teams to "F" this teacher up because they don't like this or that. And let's not forget about the parents who feel like no one (not whores and bitches) at a school can stop them from seeing their "m...f... child". Now address the kids who think their as grown as any adult, and most are as big or bigger in elementary. Or the EH kid who can't help him or her self when they feel threatened. School police are needed. Clean house on those who don't feel like they have certain duties.
We desparately need the IPS Police and I, for one, hope we do not lose a single one. One thing I have found distasteful on this blog as of late, is all the " pimp" talk directed toward Dr. White. I find it a little racist. I'm an African-American schoolteacher who teaches in IPS and I really wish you would stop it. Some of you don't hide behind your ' sheets' very well.
That last comment had a racist overtone as well. But, there have been some veiled racist remarks on here lately and the ones about a slight speech disability of the boss. Very offensive and mostly off-topic. As adults, we realize there are some idiots out there and that is that. The only thing is one cannot complain about racism and then make some racist remarks in the same post and sound like you are making a particularly legitimate argument.
Connecting racism with a racist organization isn't reverse racism. The poster didn't say anything racist. He/she only called out racism, which is rampant on this board (and at IPS). And I'm a white teacher. There is no difference between "some of you don't hide behind your sheets very well" and "there have been some veiled racist remarks on here lately." You both are saying the same thing.
It is what it is. If people don't like what they read, then simply don't read it. It's a public forum. People will complain, argue, vent, make positive comments and praise. That's the beauty of this site. If offense is taken to a particular post, either comment in return with your own opinion or move on. The preaching does nothing, as it will continue regardless of how many times the users hear it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Personally, I find the bickering humorous but if it makes people feel better, so be it.
A public forum is free and easy therapy for everyone: yes, we can express ourselves with freedom. Good story on School 14 in the Indianapolis Star, the sad part is School 15 has more poverty.
Isn't the story in the Star an ongoing report? I was under the impression it would highlight other schools as well. It was a very good article. By saying that people who use insults are ugly, toxic and poisonous, aren't you insulting? Why is this really such a big deal to everyone? If you don't like it, simply don't read it! People want reactions and that is exactly what you are giving them.
Getting back to the posted topic....There are some good officers on the IPS police force. However, as a whole, the IPS police department is worthless and a terrible waste of public funds. I believe the IPS police department should be replaced with an appropriate number regular security officers for each building. These guards should have their basic responsibilities defined by authorities at the Ed Center. Beyond those basic responsibilities, they should be reqired to answer to the principals. As long as the principals do not ask them to do anything that would interfere with or prevent them from performing their basic responsibilities, they should be required to cooperate. I am not anti-gun but history has shown there is really no need for them in this situation. There are many non-lethal tools available. These security officers obviously would not have to be paid as much as actual police officers. There would also be no need for an IPS police cheif, administration, dispatch, or the many IPS police vehicles. There is a lot of money to be saved here while improving the overall situation at the same time.
I have seen some really good police officers in schools who dealt with students in a supportive yet direct and firm manner. We can use adults like that in schools. I have also seen some police officers who misbehavior by the way they intervene. I appreciate having them in the building for security but wish they could have additional training in verbal de-escalation and could be used more to mentor students. They need to garner the respect that we want our students to be grant to all police -
IPS Police have some fine upstanding officers on the department; most of the officers believe it or not really do work hard with administrators, teachers and support staff for the most part. The officers are state certified and have to have continued education every year. The one thing that some of you seem not to understand is that the officers for IPS are bound by law and depending on you situation could determine on the outcome. I am a school police officer and I like my career very well, I am a professional like you though my job description is different from yours, our goal is in fact the same. I personally have never responded to a class room or on the street and stated "that is not my job" You have to understand that the officer may not be able to act if a criminal matter has not occurred, the officer may assist you if such assistance is required. I have seen in some situations that the administrator, teacher or support staff could have managed the situation differently. As a police officer, when we respond to a class room, school, bus etc we are a neutral detached third party and have to separate both parties involved in the situation to discover if a crime has been committed by either party. We are not school security, personally that is very insulting to the officers at the department, you would not begin to understand what the officers at IPS go through just to be an officer in the state of Indiana. Most officers from other city, county and state agencies would not want to be a school officer however the ones you have at your school did and enjoying what they do. Most of the officers at IPS police are here because they want to be here, some officers went to IPS themselves, and their children currently go to IPS. We have officers here that generally do care for the students and staff. I have responded to weapons being found, narcotics in the school, fights etc; it can be a very demanding career but a rewarding career at the end of the day. I personally believe that all staff members should be working together. We won’t be able to move the boat if everyone is paddling in opposite directions, we have to work together to achieve success. I would not want any one person to loose their career whatever job they perform at IPS.
"You have to understand that the officer may not be able to act if a criminal matter has not occurred"... "As a police officer, when we respond to a class room, school, bus etc we are a neutral detached third party and have to separate both parties involved in the situation to discover if a crime has been committed by either party." These two statements you have made are precisely the problem. I don't doubt that you are skilled and professional at your job. However, it's the wrong job for the situation. You said it yourself, police RESPOND to crime. The truth is we can get that with 911. We need proactive members of the IPS team, not neutral detached third parties. It's not about taking anyone's job or career away from them. It's about putting the right staff in place doing the right things for the students.
Call 911 and see the response time from a IMPD unit and IPSPD unit because when you call 911 they transfer you to IPS by calling 911 there in a time delay on the response you seek. All police officers are a neutral detached third party just so you know that, they have to be. They can not just take your statement, they have to take the statement of other person(s) involved so the individual officer can make a fare assessment of the facts and then take appropriate actions if needed.
I did not say that that Police respond to CRIME, if you read what I stated above. If your going to quote me then please use the whole quote. I do not want you to misunderstand me and the officers at the schools. We are proactive members of the team, some staff members just do not like the outcome. Most of the officers at IPS do a good job whether you agree or disagree. The officers do a lot of Community policing, criminal investigations, assisting school officials when needed etc.
If you should have any further comments and or need further clarification in the responsibilities, duties and general actions of an IPS police officer just post a comment and hopefully I can help you with a fare assessment of an IPS police officer. Take Care.
The time delay using 911 due to being transferred is a completely invalid argument. If there were no IPSPD, this would not be an issue. As for the other issues, your status as an LEO forces you to remain a "" in order to insure your duties are performed in a legally sound manner. I can respect that. I believe you when you say IPSPD does community policing and assists school officials. I'm simply saying you can't provide FULL cooperation with administration when the very nature of your position forces you to remain a neutral detached third party. If a teacher tells you a student committed an infraction and the student denies it, there should be no investigation or neutrality. The teacher is right, period. Look, I don't claim to have all the answers here. Clearly there are benefits to having IPSPD available. Yet there are still conflicts between the nature of the position a police officer is forced to take and what really needs to be done in certain situations.
I don't think most teachers would agree with the teacher above. I agree the police need to be detached third parties. I completely disagree that they should side with teachers over students in discipline issues. In the classroom, I'm the boss. But in the real world, we are equal citizens. We both have the same right to police protection and the same duty to obey the laws. I don't think a police officer should be used to enforce a teacher's discipline problems. I'm frankly surprised to hear a teacher say otherwise. It undermines our own authority as teachers and certainly pits police and students against each other which is absolutely not the message I want to send to my students, many of whom already have an unhealthy distrust of police.
Oh stop it. If you really think your the boss of a middle or high school classroom in IPS, you lost touch with the real world a long time ago. Many of these kids can run over a teacher anytime they want to and they know it. It wouldn't matter if the teacher was a 300 pound linebacker, they just have no respect for anyone. Teachers need someone they can count on to help when students get out of control or won't follow rules.
You think I have lost touch with reality? I'm not the one asking for police back up for classroom management! Talk to your fellow teachers. I guarantee very few (if any) of them think the police are there to enforce teacher discipline problems. That's just crazy! Do you really think managing student behavior has to do with guns and force and fear? Really? Kids are kids. And if you are hostile with kids, you're going to get resistance. Good cops know that. Good teachers know that. If you're having a tough time, try new things, take a class, read a book, join a teacher discussion group. Do whatever you need to do, but leave the police to do their job.
Yes, you have lost touch with reality. I never asked for "police backup". I happen to agree with a previous poster that said we need another form of support that is not bound to being neutral. I also never said I was a teacher. Before you start in telling me I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm not a teacher, I don't need to be a teacher to know that many of today's kids are not just kids. Many of them are little more than thugs with no more respect for authority than a sewer rat. Thinking that you are capable of handling them yourself is a good way to get hurt. Good luck with that.
Again, I find it ironic that you are accusing me of being out of touch with reality, when I'm the one who actually works with these kids, and you're spouting off the same thing older generations have been spouting for thousands of years. There is a quote by Socrates complaining about how the younger generation doesn't pay attention and don't respect elders like his generation did. Kids are kids. It's the adults who change.
Again, your outlook, while noble, is putting you at risk. I wish you no ill will. That quote from Socrates remains true regardless of the passing of time. I prefer to reference another quote by the author G.K. Chesterton "I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid."
Oh for the love of Pete. Let me assure you Chesterton would NOT support your argument. You are saying even though you are not a teacher, you know more about teachers and students and even though you are not a child psychologist you know better how to deal with the kids of today (more force) and even though every generation think's the younger generation is disrespectful and lazy, and you find today's generation disrespectful and lazy, it's not the same thing. These are your positions??? Really??? Not only are you not qualified to give me tips on my own profession, you're not even qualified to be one of my students (the ones you think are beneath you), the majority of whom can formulate much better arguments than you have shown by your posts.
Obviously, I would no more accept your assurance regarding an issue any more than you would accept mine. We certainly have completely different perspectives. I never once attempted to tell you how to do your job. I simply offered my opinion regarding an issue. We don't agree. Last I checked, that was still allowed. You are completely free to continue any path you choose, as am I. Regardless of my disagreement with you, I sincerely wish you luck in your endeavors even though your tone indicates you likely wouldn't do the same for me.
I certainly wish you well. But I wouldn't presume to offer you advice at doing your job or presume to tell you that you are putting yourself at risk as if I understood the risks of your job better than you yourself would.
Enlightenment should be the goal. Few 'arguments' have been made on this blog, which says a lot about the level of education of teaching staff. Of all people, I would think that teachers would want to convey a professional dialog.
One might want to utilize this forum as Socrates intended to utilize his Dialectic. We should not ask questions in order to provoke negative attitudes, rather to gain enlightenment upon a situation. In this case, various perceptions of public safety exist. Copious amounts of ignorance exists within IPS, based upon comments on this site. This portrays the low test scores and graduation rates within the IPS system.
Internal 'politics' can be blamed for much of this disdain. When a school police chief publicly admits that he has taken a position in order to pad his retirement coffers, rather than to provide a service and support his troops says a lot. Why not hold those responsible accountable? That will fix the issue of 'working together'.
This department is comprised of many professional and caring officers. As a faculty member, you should be proud and thankful. Retired Colonel Grossman described the make-up of society well when he explained that society possesses three 'animals': the sheep, the sheepdog, and the wolf. Should you terminate your sheepdog, no one will protect you from the wolf!
I wish you all luck, as your greatest enemy is ignorance. Knowledge is the greatest weapon to possess against you enemy.
Yes- I bet all of those teachers who walk down the hallway with their heads down and wont say a word to a kid who is skipping class, but they will be the first to call the police. All those teachers who come up to the police and say the kids wont listen to them. Look how many times the police had to be called to save a teachers butt from a student who has threatened them because the teacher talked disrespectful to them. If the kids know there are no police in the building I would sure hate to see the outcome of the Indianapolis Public Schools. If you think things are bad now just wait and see. Would that make you get out of your room and step up to the plate or would you be one of those teachers with blindfolds on and hide in your room. From your comment you're probably one of those teachers who has a blindfold on because you have no idea what really goes on in a school.
ReplyDeleteNo, from my perspective and experience, reducing the number of IPS School Police would not have a negative impact on my role as a classroom teacher or on how my classroom is managed.
ReplyDeleteEvidently each school has its own particular culture and its own method on doing things. When I was at Arlington, there was an over population of folks who were supposedly in charge of school security, including IPS School Police and the Security Dads. The IPS School Police were very clear in their job descriptions - they didn't remove kids from classrooms unless an administrator had ordered the child's removal. That may sound like a good thing; however, when a student was throwing desks around a classroom and no administrator could be reached, the School Police would just stand in the hallway and act as if everything was hunky-dory even though they could see the desks being thrown in the classroom.
The Security Dads, for the most part, just hung around the front door and then alternated between the front door and the Parent Center where there was an ample supply of coffee and doughnuts. The Security Dads spent most of their time 'jaw-boning' with the female instructional assistants and the Parent Center ladies.
There was a decidedly 'feel good' atmosphere surrounding the Security Dads and the IPS School Police at Arlington. It was reminiscent of an old Southern homecoming or revival tent meeting.
Perhaps all this has changed since Greenwood is no longer at Arlington, but security measures at Arlington during my time there were not enforced despite the large number of security personnel assigned to duty in the the physical plant.
Praise the Lord and pass the plate! The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis are about to step up to bat and save our schools from losing School Police and custodians.
ReplyDeleteThis measure is also known as "saving your friends' and relatives' jobs". Far too many of the jobs in IPS are designated to folks who are not certified personnel. IPS has become a 'make jobs' place for friends, buddies, cronies, church associates, and cousins of somebody. These 'make jobs' recipients are not teachers, but rather, they are many of our classified employees who know somebody who knows somebody who knows Dr. White or a School Board member. IPS has become little more than a political patronage employer for non-skilled labor. I'm tired of this, and I'm tired of hearing that custodians and school police will be cut, like we really worry about these people's "can't live without" contributions toward raising achievement scores for our students.
Sure, these folks support the schools operation, but they are not 'necessary' for raising achievement levels of our students. If you think otherwise, then you're deluding yourself and/or have an uncle, cousin, or relative who is a custodian or a school security person.
We can't have our cake and eat it, too. The line must be drawn somewhere. Are you willing to give up your career job as a professional educator so that somebody's cousin or uncle can be an IPS School Security Officer? I'm not.
Look you bitch face's we are ILEA certified police, So you can take your IPS school security officer which are not the police and stick them up your ASS. Because that is what will happen when the IPS police are gone from the schools. Then you will see what the police do. So when you are getting jacked in your class room by the dough boy's, sur 13, or the LK you can go cry yor sorry ass to DR. Giles and PIMP White that the school police are a $6,000,000 pain in IPS butt and PIMP White can tell the school board that we don't need school police. Pimp White can also tell the state that school police cost to much money and why he is worth $250,000 dollars a year when he is a sorry sack of shit. By the way the golf cart has been broke at TECH for about 5 months.
ReplyDeleteMy, My, My.... some "real cop wanabe" is feeling a little threatened aren't they? When IPS police started refusing to work with the staff as part of the team in favor of their "that's not my job" attitude, they started digging their own grave.
ReplyDeleteAt Tech, the school police will not come to a classroom and they will not tell loitering students to go to class. They do not see that as their role. They primarily ride the golf carts around and take lunch orders for their friends.
ReplyDeleteAbout 3 years ago, the 'head' School Police at Arlington HS was given the stage at a full faculty meeting by Jackie Greenwood so that he could tell us, the faculty, just exactly what his people 'would and would not' do for the teachers. He cooked his goose with us after that performance on the Arlington stage. He pranced around, waved his arms in the air, and generally sounded like a pentecostal preacher on a Sunday morning preaching to the sinners. Maybe he's no longer with IPS, but by golly, he made a real lasting impression; a bad impression!
ReplyDeleteOh, my! We can see that the IPS version of Homeland Security is Online tonight.
ReplyDeleteThis site has becoming an embarrasing cesspool. Not much legitimate anymore - just nasty gossip and nasty language.
ReplyDeletethen quit coming here and reading the remarks
ReplyDeleteI value the IPS police. I am a Secondary Teacher and I find the IPS Police to be professional and most do their job well. Any job or profession would have those that do nothing. (Look at some teachers.)But by and large, they are a value, not a detriment. If there are less of them I would miss them. Maybe teachers should start carrying pepper spray or mace. Guns? Hmmmmmm. Get one thinking doesn't it? I love teaching but if a kid brings weapons to school, how should we defend ourselves? By building a positive relationship with the student? Right.
ReplyDeleteThanks above poster. Here is a thought. If you just want to slap someone on here (becuase you don;t have the guts to do it in person), start your own blog. This is a great forum for discussing things without comments such as "bitch faces" and the use of profanity. I find this blog interesting and I am an adult and can take it but the true nature of may IPS employees is really showing on here. Most of the complaints are about how we are treated by administrators. You have to act the same way you want to be treated. (Maybe you were absent in Elementary School and missed that.) You want to be treated as a professional. THEN ACT LIKE ONE!
ReplyDeleteRight On!
ReplyDeleteDr. White's intentions for not having the police respond everytime a student wouldn't listen to a teacher is because he wanted better classroom management and he wanted the administrators to be involved more. If the administrator couldn't handle the student, then there would be a need to get the police involved. There has been plenty of times this had happened and sometimes it required the student to be arrested. The police don't need to be called for every situation. You need to ask yourself what law has the student broken. Police presence at the school is important because it deters alot from happening. Teachers don't have any idea about how much garbage gets brought to the school from what happens in the community. I'm sure you have heard about the shootings over the last few weekends, but I bet you didn't know the impact it had on some of the schools. I think the police are needed at the schools and wouldn't like to see them go.
ReplyDeleteIf a huge fight breaks out in my room, if some kid brings a weapon to my room, or if drugs on a student appear in my room, then I can always pick up the telephone, dial 9 for an outside line, and then punch in 911.
ReplyDeleteFights, weapons, and drugs inside a public school are no different than at the local mall. Too often fights, weapons, and drugs in the school hallways are treated differently than if at the mall. School police occasionally, if not more, act as covers for the school administration and try to keep things quiet and under wraps about what really goes on in IPS.
How many teachers do you know or have heard about who were hit, pushed, shoved, or assaulted by a teenager in IPS, yet nothing ever happened? If the same thing happened in the local mall, then the kid would be behind arrested within minutes.
The school police used to be partners of teachers but then came this attitude of "it's not my job". Unfortunately now there job seems to be to cover up an incident so that the media will not find out. They have ceased to have any value as far as teachers are concerned and are now simply stooges for Eugene White. We have been advised that if you have a situation in your room, call 911.
ReplyDeleteFYI when you call 911 and talk to an IMPD dispatcher they call IPS police dispatch which then they call the IPS police that are in the school. So all you did was waste time if it was a true incident. Don't plan on IMPD to care if a kid tells to you to fuck off. Then you will see that IMPD wont respond to stupid calls like I can't control a 2nd grade kid. Then you will see how much BS the school police put up with.
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between poor classroom management (a kid using profanity, causing disruption, refusing to work), and a situation that requires police.
ReplyDeleteYeah, if your intent is to use the police because a student calls you an asshole, then maybe the student is right. Seriously, they are for emergencies, not to be a classroom managers. That is the job of the teacher. Duh!
ReplyDeleteWhen does the teachers take responsibility for their classrooms and the administrators help out when needed. Too many administrators just standing in the hallways and letting students act as they please.
ReplyDeleteI think teachers are not talking about name calling but about fights, threats, refusal to leave classroom and behaviors that cause an immediate threat.....4 school police riding around on a golf cart saying "that is not my job" is not helpful. Replace them all or change their job descriptions. Get them in the buildings and get them visible. That is what cities have discovered to be very effective. It is called community policing.
ReplyDeleteWhy not shut down Attucks, Shortridge,and Marshall. Those schools could be blended into other half empty buildings. Those programs could be considered Magnets in the new buldings.
ReplyDeleteHeck Manual and Arlington do not even have magnets and are half full.
Stop sending the regular kids from the Broad Ripple area (gas eats money and more bus drivers are needed). Just have the magnet with a regular small district area.
Think folks we can combine many programs and buildings. Look at the Key School they are combinine their two campuses.
Time to do the same and shutter these buldings. Sell them off. We do not have the enrollment to keep them open. Keeping them open and paying for upkeep cost. How many IPS police and teachers and programs can be saved by closing the archaic buidings? Keep the programs but make them magnets at other locations.
If a student calls a teacher something inappropriate, whether you think that teacher "deserves" it or not, you are allowing or encouraging behavior that will get them fired once they get out into the real world. We've all had bosses or supervisors who weren't great, but calling them names doesn't fix anything, and will causes people to lose their jobs!
ReplyDeleteGood point. They should close those buildings down because they are not being utilized. Hard to justify heating empty space. The only thing is, it would just reduce the number of places to get free coffee for the IPS Police.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think a mayor who won't let you legally carry a gun in a city park will allow you to carry a gun to your IPS classroom in order to protect yourself and more importantly your students? Please keep the IPS cops! You won't care about ISTEP scores if you're dead!
ReplyDeleteColumbine, Virginia Tech and Jamar Bess, enough said!
What good is a school police office if he/she is riding around in a golf cart and delivering fast food orders to the administrators and whose response to a call for assistance is "that isn't my job". It is already illegal to carry a gun in a school so the mayor has nothing to do with this. I do agree with the mayor that we don't need to open the city parks to the gun toters either.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that criminals do not follow laws and will take a gun wherever they please including a school or a park. As for schools, that is why we rely on a police force. They are needed to ensure safety. I know some have mentioned lazy officers, but I have seen a lot of professionalism with those officers I have dealt with.
ReplyDeleteI want to give a shout out to Ms. Bakehorn at School 54. We were told she was heading to Central Office but now she's back for at least the rest of the year. Julie is exactly what CO needs, she will clean up any department she takes over. Who else is doing a good job this year? Bad?
ReplyDeleteThere is no way to quantify the amount of bad stuff the IPS cops have thwarted, so is this a good reason to lay them off? IPS cops deter a lot, and nobody realizes it because it can't be accurately quantified. How many Jamars are out there lying in wait? That's a chance I'm not willing to take.
ReplyDeleteBetty Beane is a nice lady, just not the best principal...I've heard she's retiring!!!
ReplyDeleteI do not feel that some IPS police do their jobs! I had a student in my class (elementary) with a knife and the police were a NO SHOW! I tried to call county police and were told that they could not help me because it was the IPS police's job. Go figure. Luckily myself or a student were not stabbed as intended or IPS would have had to sweep another story under their RUG! I am all about helping a child, but there is not a lot a teacher can do in the middle of a fight with weapons. Do you know how many elementary schools have had guns in their buildings in IPS in the last few years...last year.. this year?? How many have we heard of on the news....maybe 2.
ReplyDeleteIf IPS gets rid of their police department, we may end up with another Columbine experience. We have way to many gang members, and/or other thugs who think they can come into our schools and rule them. I thank god for the IPS School Police. There are way to many other things that IPS can cut before they cut the police department
ReplyDeleteI guess you have missed the point of many of us have been saying. In the last couple of years, the IPS police department has developed an attitude which they express verbally that there job is not to monitor students or patrol the halls or campus or even interact with teachers and students. Somewhere in the mix, they got the attitude that they were there for administrative duties. Many times we have been told to call 911 but 911 just says to call IPS police. The police offices has gotten grander and the officers spend more time there in "meetings". The value to school, students and teachers has gotten so minimal that I think it might be a good place to cut expenses. If they had continued functioning like they did several years ago when they were a part of the team and visible and helpful, I would not feel that way.
ReplyDeleteHow productive is this website? All it does is turn one group against another. We all should be working together to prevent these kids from taking over our schools. There are a lot of IPS officers who work very well with staff members and there are some who don't, but we could say the same about teachers too. Why don't we stop all the criticism and concentrate on working together.
ReplyDeleteBut if we concentrate on working together, then we accept some of the responsibility for being part of the solution. And IPS-BS wants nothing to do with personal responsibility.
ReplyDeleteIf one does not care for this website, then respectfully move on. There are an abudnace of websites out there. According to: http://techcrunchies.com/how-many-websites-totally-on-the-worldwide-web/ ,there are 156 million other ones out there. I am sure one of those would suit your taste.
ReplyDeleteAs for THE TOPIC: The police force could use some changes just like some adminstrators and some teachers. I woudl hate to see the police go if I am in a situation where I am assaulted.
And yes, I know how to spell would. Thanks. Excuse my typing.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to be assaulted, the IPS police would not be there to prevent it or to stop it. They would eventually show up to take a statement and do their administrative paperwork. You would have to rely on students and other staff members to break it up. Just a hard cold fact of life.
ReplyDeleteI work in an elementary. Everyone thinks nothing happens at the elementary level that would require school police. WRONG! Forget kids for a moment...parents have become a threat too. The elementary school is a playground for ghetto-fabulous parents to come and perform for an audience of students in grades K-6. They come in tag-teams to "F" this teacher up because they don't like this or that. And let's not forget about the parents who feel like no one (not whores and bitches) at a school can stop them from seeing their "m...f... child". Now address the kids who think their as grown as any adult, and most are as big or bigger in elementary. Or the EH kid who can't help him or her self when they feel threatened. School police are needed. Clean house on those who don't feel like they have certain duties.
ReplyDeleteWe desparately need the IPS Police and I, for one, hope we do not lose a single one. One thing I have found distasteful on this blog as of late, is all the " pimp" talk directed toward Dr. White. I find it a little racist. I'm an African-American schoolteacher who teaches in IPS and I really wish you would stop it. Some of you don't hide behind your ' sheets' very well.
ReplyDeleteThat last comment had a racist overtone as well. But, there have been some veiled racist remarks on here lately and the ones about a slight speech disability of the boss. Very offensive and mostly off-topic. As adults, we realize there are some idiots out there and that is that. The only thing is one cannot complain about racism and then make some racist remarks in the same post and sound like you are making a particularly legitimate argument.
ReplyDeleteConnecting racism with a racist organization isn't reverse racism. The poster didn't say anything racist. He/she only called out racism, which is rampant on this board (and at IPS). And I'm a white teacher. There is no difference between "some of you don't hide behind your sheets very well" and "there have been some veiled racist remarks on here lately." You both are saying the same thing.
ReplyDeleteIf Pimp White was a leader people would not have to put him down.
ReplyDeleteIt is what it is. If people don't like what they read, then simply don't read it. It's a public forum. People will complain, argue, vent, make positive comments and praise. That's the beauty of this site. If offense is taken to a particular post, either comment in return with your own opinion or move on. The preaching does nothing, as it will continue regardless of how many times the users hear it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Personally, I find the bickering humorous but if it makes people feel better, so be it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, of course. Racism and immaturity are the fault of Eugene White. Why am I not surprised?
ReplyDeleteA public forum is free and easy therapy for everyone: yes, we can express ourselves with freedom. Good story on School 14 in the Indianapolis Star, the sad part is School 15 has more poverty.
ReplyDeleteInsulting other people isn't therapy. It's just ugliness. Toxicity. Poison.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, IPS???
ReplyDeleteIsn't the story in the Star an ongoing report? I was under the impression it would highlight other schools as well. It was a very good article.
ReplyDeleteBy saying that people who use insults are ugly, toxic and poisonous, aren't you insulting? Why is this really such a big deal to everyone? If you don't like it, simply don't read it! People want reactions and that is exactly what you are giving them.
I like the police of IPS. They are effective from what I have seen.
ReplyDeleteGetting back to the posted topic....There are some good officers on the IPS police force. However, as a whole, the IPS police department is worthless and a terrible waste of public funds. I believe the IPS police department should be replaced with an appropriate number regular security officers for each building. These guards should have their basic responsibilities defined by authorities at the Ed Center. Beyond those basic responsibilities, they should be reqired to answer to the principals. As long as the principals do not ask them to do anything that would interfere with or prevent them from performing their basic responsibilities, they should be required to cooperate. I am not anti-gun but history has shown there is really no need for them in this situation. There are many non-lethal tools available. These security officers obviously would not have to be paid as much as actual police officers. There would also be no need for an IPS police cheif, administration, dispatch, or the many IPS police vehicles. There is a lot of money to be saved here while improving the overall situation at the same time.
ReplyDeleteTo the last poster realy. 10-4 Dr. Giles.
ReplyDeleteYou people jest don't get it.
I have seen some really good police officers in schools who dealt with students in a supportive yet direct and firm manner. We can use adults like that in schools. I have also seen some police officers who misbehavior by the way they intervene. I appreciate having them in the building for security but wish they could have additional training in verbal de-escalation and could be used more to mentor students. They need to garner the respect that we want our students to be grant to all police -
ReplyDelete^ that should read "who may escalate misbehavior by the way they intervene"
ReplyDelete^ darn...we need a way to take back our comments so we can make corrections... above should read "we want our students to grant to all police"
ReplyDeletethat Colts loss has messed with my brain...
"slight speech disability"..........I would hate to hear a serious one.
ReplyDeleteIPS Police have some fine upstanding officers on the department; most of the officers believe it or not really do work hard with administrators, teachers and support staff for the most part. The officers are state certified and have to have continued education every year. The one thing that some of you seem not to understand is that the officers for IPS are bound by law and depending on you situation could determine on the outcome. I am a school police officer and I like my career very well, I am a professional like you though my job description is different from yours, our goal is in fact the same. I personally have never responded to a class room or on the street and stated "that is not my job" You have to understand that the officer may not be able to act if a criminal matter has not occurred, the officer may assist you if such assistance is required. I have seen in some situations that the administrator, teacher or support staff could have managed the situation differently. As a police officer, when we respond to a class room, school, bus etc we are a neutral detached third party and have to separate both parties involved in the situation to discover if a crime has been committed by either party. We are not school security, personally that is very insulting to the officers at the department, you would not begin to understand what the officers at IPS go through just to be an officer in the state of Indiana. Most officers from other city, county and state agencies would not want to be a school officer however the ones you have at your school did and enjoying what they do. Most of the officers at IPS police are here because they want to be here, some officers went to IPS themselves, and their children currently go to IPS. We have officers here that generally do care for the students and staff. I have responded to weapons being found, narcotics in the school, fights etc; it can be a very demanding career but a rewarding career at the end of the day. I personally believe that all staff members should be working together. We won’t be able to move the boat if everyone is paddling in opposite directions, we have to work together to achieve success. I would not want any one person to loose their career whatever job they perform at IPS.
ReplyDelete"You have to understand that the officer may not be able to act if a criminal matter has not occurred"... "As a police officer, when we respond to a class room, school, bus etc we are a neutral detached third party and have to separate both parties involved in the situation to discover if a crime has been committed by either party." These two statements you have made are precisely the problem. I don't doubt that you are skilled and professional at your job. However, it's the wrong job for the situation. You said it yourself, police RESPOND to crime. The truth is we can get that with 911. We need proactive members of the IPS team, not neutral detached third parties. It's not about taking anyone's job or career away from them. It's about putting the right staff in place doing the right things for the students.
ReplyDeleteCall 911 and see the response time from a IMPD unit and IPSPD unit because when you call 911 they transfer you to IPS by calling 911 there in a time delay on the response you seek. All police officers are a neutral detached third party just so you know that, they have to be. They can not just take your statement, they have to take the statement of other person(s) involved so the individual officer can make a fare assessment of the facts and then take appropriate actions if needed.
ReplyDeleteI did not say that that Police respond to CRIME, if you read what I stated above. If your going to quote me then please use the whole quote. I do not want you to misunderstand me and the officers at the schools. We are proactive members of the team, some staff members just do not like the outcome. Most of the officers at IPS do a good job whether you agree or disagree. The officers do a lot of Community policing, criminal investigations, assisting school officials when needed etc.
If you should have any further comments and or need further clarification in the responsibilities, duties and general actions of an IPS police officer just post a comment and hopefully I can help you with a fare assessment of an IPS police officer. Take Care.
The time delay using 911 due to being transferred is a completely invalid argument. If there were no IPSPD, this would not be an issue. As for the other issues, your status as an LEO forces you to remain a "" in order to insure your duties are performed in a legally sound manner. I can respect that. I believe you when you say IPSPD does community policing and assists school officials. I'm simply saying you can't provide FULL cooperation with administration when the very nature of your position forces you to remain a neutral detached third party. If a teacher tells you a student committed an infraction and the student denies it, there should be no investigation or neutrality. The teacher is right, period. Look, I don't claim to have all the answers here. Clearly there are benefits to having IPSPD available. Yet there are still conflicts between the nature of the position a police officer is forced to take and what really needs to be done in certain situations.
ReplyDeletetypo correction: between the quotation marks should read "neutral detached third party"
ReplyDeleteI agree
ReplyDeleteI don't think most teachers would agree with the teacher above. I agree the police need to be detached third parties. I completely disagree that they should side with teachers over students in discipline issues. In the classroom, I'm the boss. But in the real world, we are equal citizens. We both have the same right to police protection and the same duty to obey the laws. I don't think a police officer should be used to enforce a teacher's discipline problems. I'm frankly surprised to hear a teacher say otherwise. It undermines our own authority as teachers and certainly pits police and students against each other which is absolutely not the message I want to send to my students, many of whom already have an unhealthy distrust of police.
ReplyDeleteOh stop it. If you really think your the boss of a middle or high school classroom in IPS, you lost touch with the real world a long time ago. Many of these kids can run over a teacher anytime they want to and they know it. It wouldn't matter if the teacher was a 300 pound linebacker, they just have no respect for anyone. Teachers need someone they can count on to help when students get out of control or won't follow rules.
ReplyDeleteYou think I have lost touch with reality? I'm not the one asking for police back up for classroom management! Talk to your fellow teachers. I guarantee very few (if any) of them think the police are there to enforce teacher discipline problems. That's just crazy! Do you really think managing student behavior has to do with guns and force and fear? Really? Kids are kids. And if you are hostile with kids, you're going to get resistance. Good cops know that. Good teachers know that. If you're having a tough time, try new things, take a class, read a book, join a teacher discussion group. Do whatever you need to do, but leave the police to do their job.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I teach secondary ed in IPS.
ReplyDeleteYes, you have lost touch with reality. I never asked for "police backup". I happen to agree with a previous poster that said we need another form of support that is not bound to being neutral. I also never said I was a teacher. Before you start in telling me I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm not a teacher, I don't need to be a teacher to know that many of today's kids are not just kids. Many of them are little more than thugs with no more respect for authority than a sewer rat. Thinking that you are capable of handling them yourself is a good way to get hurt. Good luck with that.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I find it ironic that you are accusing me of being out of touch with reality, when I'm the one who actually works with these kids, and you're spouting off the same thing older generations have been spouting for thousands of years. There is a quote by Socrates complaining about how the younger generation doesn't pay attention and don't respect elders like his generation did. Kids are kids. It's the adults who change.
ReplyDeleteAgain, your outlook, while noble, is putting you at risk. I wish you no ill will. That quote from Socrates remains true regardless of the passing of time. I prefer to reference another quote by the author G.K. Chesterton "I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the
ReplyDeleteold man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid."
Oh for the love of Pete. Let me assure you Chesterton would NOT support your argument. You are saying even though you are not a teacher, you know more about teachers and students and even though you are not a child psychologist you know better how to deal with the kids of today (more force) and even though every generation think's the younger generation is disrespectful and lazy, and you find today's generation disrespectful and lazy, it's not the same thing. These are your positions??? Really??? Not only are you not qualified to give me tips on my own profession, you're not even qualified to be one of my students (the ones you think are beneath you), the majority of whom can formulate much better arguments than you have shown by your posts.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I would no more accept your assurance regarding an issue any more than you would accept mine. We certainly have completely different perspectives. I never once attempted to tell you how to do your job. I simply offered my opinion regarding an issue. We don't agree. Last I checked, that was still allowed. You are completely free to continue any path you choose, as am I. Regardless of my disagreement with you, I sincerely wish you luck in your endeavors even though your tone indicates you likely wouldn't do the same for me.
ReplyDeleteI certainly wish you well. But I wouldn't presume to offer you advice at doing your job or presume to tell you that you are putting yourself at risk as if I understood the risks of your job better than you yourself would.
ReplyDeleteEnlightenment should be the goal. Few 'arguments' have been made on this blog, which says a lot about the level of education of teaching staff. Of all people, I would think that teachers would want to convey a professional dialog.
ReplyDeleteOne might want to utilize this forum as Socrates intended to utilize his Dialectic. We should not ask questions in order to provoke negative attitudes, rather to gain enlightenment upon a situation. In this case, various perceptions of public safety exist. Copious amounts of ignorance exists within IPS, based upon comments on this site. This portrays the low test scores and graduation rates within the IPS system.
Internal 'politics' can be blamed for much of this disdain. When a school police chief publicly admits that he has taken a position in order to pad his retirement coffers, rather than to provide a service and support his troops says a lot. Why not hold those responsible accountable? That will fix the issue of 'working together'.
This department is comprised of many professional and caring officers. As a faculty member, you should be proud and thankful. Retired Colonel Grossman described the make-up of society well when he explained that society possesses three 'animals': the sheep, the sheepdog, and the wolf. Should you terminate your sheepdog, no one will protect you from the wolf!
I wish you all luck, as your greatest enemy is ignorance. Knowledge is the greatest weapon to possess against you enemy.