NCJ Number
149703
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 63 Issue: 8 Dated: (August 1994) Pages: 20-23
Date Published
1994
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines recent violent incidents at a suburban Virginia public high school and describes how police agencies can work with school administrators and the community to prevent violence among students.
Abstract
The school is one of 21 public secondary schools in Fairfax County, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C. During the 1992-93 school year, this school enrolled 2,073 students in grades 9 through 12. Fifty-two percent of students are white; 26 percent Asian; 12 percent, Latino; and 10 percent, African-American. In recent years, violence in the school had risen sharply. By 1992, school administrators and police realized that two distinct ethnic factions had formed within the school population: one African-American and one Latino. Each group charged the other with failure to respect them properly. In October, 1992 40 to 50 students, primarily Latino and Korean, had a fight in the lunch room. In January 1993, an off-campus shooting occurred, as a Latino student shot an African-American student in the leg. Despite the principal's removal of 50 of the student aggressors the next day, vandalism and violence continued to occur in the school throughout the rest of the day and week. In addition to traditional routine reactive responses to those responsible for criminal acts, the police mounted initiatives to avert further violence and resolve some of the underlying problems. These included the assigning of a patrol officer to the high school full time and instituting a policy of "zero tolerance for violence." Officers from the police department's Community Liaison Unit worked with the school administration and the students to mediate the underlying disputes. The school administration acted promptly to suspend anyone arrested for violent acts. The police involved the community from the beginning. Three days after the shooting, representatives from the police, the high school principal, school board members, and the school superintendent met with 350 to 450 parents, students, and residents of the community to discuss the problem. The key ingredient in resolving the escalating violence was a mediation group that involved Latino and African-American student representatives. They reached a consensus on a strategy to eliminate violent acts between the groups. The strategy was publicized to all students. Since that time, violent acts have significantly diminished.