We want police to guard our
children at school events.
Not to be discipline monitors.
Not to jail our children for schoolyard infractions.
And definitely not to waste our money locking up kids wearing
a gorilla suit and a banana suit.
Two news events this week have renewed the ongoing debate
about police officers’ role at schools and school
events.
In Keller, a parent is upset because a police officer went
on campus to interview her 12-year-old daughter as a possible
witness in a sexual-abuse investigation in her neighborhood.
Look, if I lived in Keller, I’d be glad that police
are investigating.
The more celebrated case is in Flower Mound, where two students
were arrested and jailed for most of a day just for running
down the football field wearing gorilla and banana suits.
Flower Mound High School assistant principals turned them
over to city police, but administrators later feigned surprise
that the boys were jailed.
News flash to Flower Mound High School Principal Paul Moon
and Lewisville Superintendent Jerry Roy: When administrators
delegate discipline to law officers, they’ll put somebody
in jail.
That not only wastes police time and resources.
It also wastes our money.
According to a 1999 Washington study, the typical misdemeanor
arrest costs taxpayers almost $4,000 in jail costs, clerical
time and lost patrol time.
I doubt that it cost that much to lock up Sean Kight, 18,
"The Banana," and Flower Mound Jaguars distance
runner Curtis Patton, 17, "The Gorilla."
They’ll spend two weeks in alternative school after
mimicking a popular stunt — racing down the football
field as a banana chasing a gorilla — during a Sept.
19 game against North Crowley.
Assistant Principal Adrian Moreno chased and caught Patton
at the stadium fence, Flower Mound police said, describing
the video now seen by more than 20,000 YouTube viewers as
"Banana Chases Monkey."
A police captain at the scene didn’t want to arrest
the teens, police have said. But school officials demanded
it.
So Patton and Kight slept in a four-bunk city jail cell
alongside suspects facing drug charges.
They were released at 2:30 p.m.
At first, the teenagers faced criminal charges, a possible
six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. Police later reduced
the charge to "unauthorized person on school grounds,"
and it was completely dropped by the end of the week.
The entire case not only cost Flower Mound time and money
It also cost officers respect.
And what if a gunman had opened fire while police were booking
the gorilla and banana?
Dallas attorney David Finn represents Patton. Or, in his
words Friday, "I’ve got the gorilla."
Patton has told Star-Telegram reporter Mark Agee that he
thought the gag was harmless and "would unite the student
body." Students cheered and later signed a Facebook
page called "FREE ALL CHARGES FOR GORILLA AND BANANA."
Patton and Kight will return to school on Friday, before
Patton’s next cross-country meet.
Finn said school pranks shouldn’t be prosecuted as
crimes. When he was a senior at Jesuit High in Dallas, he
turned a greased pig loose in school.
"They read me the riot act," Finn said. "But
I wasn’t sent to jail or put in alternative school.
. . . I think that since Columbine, with all these school
shootings, everybody is on red alert."
We want our police watching for those threats.
Not going bananas.
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