School Climate & Safety

After Video, Baltimore Schools to Review Training, Screening of School Police

By Evie Blad — March 08, 2016 1 min read
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Baltimore schools CEO Gregory Thornton will review how the district screens and trains officers employed by its in-house police department after a video surfaced last week showing a school officer slapping, kicking, and swearing at a teen boy.

Thornton shared his plan in comments to the media after a closed-door meeting with parents and teachers Monday night, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Tensions between parents and civil rights advocates and the school district were stoked last week when the video of the interaction outside of the district’s REACH Partnership School was posted to Facebook. The officer, along with another school officer seen in the video, and the Baltimore School Police Chief Marshall Goodwin are all on leave pending the results of internal and criminal investigations.

The Sun reported last week that the officer seen slapping the boy “was one of two Baltimore sheriff’s deputies who were fired in 2003 after a wrongful Taser attack that sparked outrage in the Hispanic community.” The officer was also previously the subject of a court-issued protective order requested by his girlfriend, the paper reported.


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A version of this news article first appeared in the Rules for Engagement blog.