Sauk Valley law enforcement speaks out against now-tabled school resource officer bill

Should it be reanimated, a now-tabled state House bill introduced earlier this week that would eliminate school resource officers and outlaw any police presence on school grounds save for in the case of “imminent threat of danger” is short-sighted and “terrible,” local law officials said Friday.

Since its first reading, Sauk Valley law enforcement organizations have spoken out against House Bill 0029.

Lee County Sheriff John Simonton and Dixon Police Chief Steve Howell released a statement Friday to their community, where there was a school shooting at graduation practice at Dixon High School in May 2018. Now-retired SRO Mark Dallas was on scene, chased, shot, wounded and arrested the shooter, and no one else was injured.

If the bill were to move forward, it would negatively impact the relationships SROs regularly create with children, the lawmen said.

School resource officers, who are members of their department and are paid in part by their school district, are there to assist students having problems, deter active shooters and other violence, and to help school officials with disturbances and fights.

The bill will “negatively impact the relationships that the specially trained SROs have created with children in our state who now have personal relationships with an officer/deputy on a regular basis who they can discuss issues such as bullying, in-home violence, suicide, sexual abuse, etc.,” Howell said in the release.

“Do we need to look any further in our region, with the heroic actions taken by [SRO Dallas], saving the lives of multiple students and staff with his quick actions and intervention during an active shooting incident at Dixon High School?” Simonton said in the statement.

He advised the public to reach out to their state legislators in opposition to the bill or future legislation like it.

“If you believe it is you and your school district’s right to hire police officers to protect and aid your children while in school, you may want to let your state legislators know, before they pass further legislation defunding and reducing police presence in our communities,” Simonton said.

Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle answered questions asked by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Downers Grove, while testifying Jan. 9-10 in Springfield about police reform.

VanVickle said he wasn’t surprised by Stava-Murray introducing the bill or the “pushback” she got as a result.

“My concern is the bill still sitting there and can be pushed forward later,” VanVickle said. “That is horrible – no law enforcement on the property without present danger. They can’t be at a football game or a school dance. It shows the perspective it came from. It’s inappropriate. It doesn’t protect our kids. It takes things out of local hands.”

Oregon Police Chief Shawn Melville called the bill’s ideals “very frustrating.”

“By the time there’s already a threat, with no officer, we’re losing lives,” Melville said. “People could’ve died in Dixon if not for Officer Dallas. Our support staff, them telling us we can’t have an officer in school, that’s terrible.”

As do most Sauk Valley schools, the Oregon School District has an SRO. It’s not to police kids, but to build a relationship before they find themselves in the criminal justice system, Superintendent Tom Mahoney said.

The bill may have caused schools to revert back to being reactive.

“The only time police were called was if there was violence or drugs or a threat,” Mahoney said. “The only times kids saw a cop was after violence. Now he’s integrated in what we do, and we are building relationships.”

“It’s been successful. I was confident that the bill wouldn’t make it. I think it’d be a tremendous detriment and a loss of a resource.”