LBUSD: Board Of Education Statement On Termination Of School Safety Officer's Employment

Long Beach CA

09 October, 2021

11:23 AM

Description

Press release from the Long Beach Unified School District: October 08, 2021 Ver en español View in Khmer Dear Long Beach Unified Constituents, As your elected Board of Education members, we took decisive action this week to terminate the employment of the school safety officer who was involved in an off-campus shooting on Monday, Sept. 27. We have all been profoundly saddened by this incident, and we know that many people in our school communities are collectively grieving. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by this terrible tragedy, especially the family, friends and loved ones of the shooting victim, Manuela Rodriguez. We voted unanimously to terminate this officer's employment after our internal review clearly revealed areas where this employee violated District policy, and did not meet our expectations. The "Use of Force" policy used by our School Safety Office states that officers 1) shall not fire at a fleeing person, 2) shall not fire at a moving vehicle, and 3) shall not fire through a vehicle window unless circumstances clearly warrant the use of a firearm as a final means of defense. Based on our careful review, we found that our internal policy was violated.  The criminal investigation is ongoing and being handled by the Long Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney. We can only speak to our own policy, and must defer questions about the criminal investigation to them. Please be assured that we continue to cooperate fully with the formal investigation. We have also heard from many community members about what school safety should look like going forward. Our communities have spoken out very strongly about this, and we are listening. We are committed to building a stronger, safer and better District together. Our immediate plans include but are not limited to providing more formal spaces and opportunities to listen and engage in critical discussions about safety and well-being, not only with students, but also families and community members. We look forward to working closer with our community partners and identifying ways that we can best support students at schools at this time, and reviewing and strengthening our own strategies and restorative practices as they relate to safety and student well-being. We will continue to engage with our school communities, working together to take actions that provide safe, welcoming campuses where ALL of our students can learn and thrive. We expect that more information on this incident will surface when the formal investigation concludes. For now, we know that we have tragically lost a young woman, and we must allow time for everyone who is impacted by this tragedy to grieve and heal as best they can. This is also a time for our District to uphold our longstanding values regarding how our employees interact with students, families and members of the community. Those interactions should be defined by mutual respect, support and caring for one another. Our Board and our entire team remain deeply committed to those values. We encourage you to stay engaged and continue participating so that together we can build a better Long Beach Unified for everyone.  Sincerely, Juan Benitez, Ph.D., President Megan Kerr, Vice President Diana Craighead, Member Erik Miller, Member Douglas Otto, Member View in English This press release was produced by the Long Beach Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.