Thursday, September 30, 1999 Older Editions

Cops in schools?

By Neil Fater

An Andover mom whose son was allegedly assaulted in an Andover High School hallway this month is calling for significantly more security -- and possibly a police presence -- in the Andover schools.

But both police and Andover superintendent Claudia Bach say they don't foresee significant changes coming to hallways in the near future.

"We're not interested in having our schools become places that look like armed camps. We want our schools to be places where students and adults feel the priority is learning," says Bach.

Both Bach and police say that violence in the Andover schools is infrequent.

"I don't feel we have a lot of violence in our schools. We have a minimum amount," says Bach.

"We've never before seen a need for (police in the schools), until some of the more recent events throughout the country such as Columbine," says Lt. Richard Enos.

"I wouldn't necessarily say we'd even like to do it," he says. "I think we'd like to have a situation where we're not needed. Maybe that's utopian thinking nowadays."

Bach says she prefers "proactive" efforts, such as counseling, that ideally will handle students' potentially violent feelings before they are acted upon. A new counselor was hired this year, she says.

"We're really looking toward the counseling," says Bach. "That's not to say the police department and the schools and the district attorney aren't saying, 'Should we do more?' But at this point, we're not doing more."

However, the mother of the injured student says the schools should do more -- either by bringing in police or, at a minimum, hiring hall monitors.

"There should be no tolerance for violence. We should be teaching that," says the mother, who asked not to be identified because of her son.

"My son couldn't just walk away. He was hanging up by his neck," she says.

"I think (the problem) is very small in Andover," continues the mother. "But if it could happen to my kid, it could happen to another kid who's non-violent."

The incident at Andover High occurred the morning of Sept. 16, and was reported in the Police Log of last week's Townsman.

Police say a 16-year-old male bumped into a smaller, freshman male in the hall. After the two exchanged words briefly, the unidentified 16-year-old allegedly choked the other boy.

"The accused apparently held the assaulted by the neck. So much so that the next day he still had the finger marks on his neck," says Detective Jim Haggerty. "You could still count the fingers on his neck (from the bruise), right where the jugular is."

The 16-year-old will be summoned into court and charged with assault and battery, he says. Haggerty says police believe the 16-year-old was the aggressor in this incident, although he showed police an injury of his own.

"The accused comes in a few days later with a big bruise on his leg. To me, it wasn't anything caused by a kick," says Haggerty. "I'm not a doctor, but to me it looked like the rash you get from sliding on a hard surface."

Bach would not comment on what action the schools planned to take against the 16-year-old.

But she says the schools take violence in the schools seriously. Before events such as the shootings at Columbine shocked America, Andover school officials were regularly discussing how to prevent and handle school violence with Andover police and the District Attorney's office, she says.

Lt. Richard Enos says a statewide task force involving both top police and school officials is also creating a response system for police to use.

"We're always investigating all the ways that we can review student safety," says Bach. "At this time, we really feel very comfortable with our schools. Not complacent, but confident with the safety of our schools."

At least some officers agree.

"I don't think at this point there's a necessity to have an officer in the school. It's like Big Brother watching over your shoulder. At some point you have to put some trust in the kids. And just because you have someone walking the hall doesn't mean (fights will stop)," says Haggerty. "You're going to have (fights) from time to time in a school with that many kids."

But on occasion, officers have discussed the idea of being in the schools.

"I can foresee in a future time having police officers assigned to the schools considered," says Enos. "The issue has come up at various times, sometimes by individual officers, because they've gone up to the school, either for someone with drugs or because an assault has taken place. But, again, it's an extremely costly thing to put in place."

Enos says in the past, schools have always handled their own problems, except for occasional issues with drugs or violence.

"We'd like to see and wish it would continue that way, but that's wishful thinking on my part. I think these recent (national) events are going to change thinking in a lot of different ways," he says.