Inside, schools safer

By Emily Richmond

Friday, Aug. 29, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Campus crime declined significantly at Clark County schools during the 2007-08 academic year, according to a new report obtained by the Sun.

But several of the most serious incidents involving students and guns weren’t counted in the year-end tally because they occurred off campus.

According to the district’s numbers, School Police handled 52 gun-related incidents and confiscated 16 weapons, down from 82 incidents and 27 confiscated weapons in the prior academic year. The number of campus assaults also dropped, to 54 from 79.

Citations for truancy more than doubled, to 3,217 from 1,547. District officials said the increase reflects more aggressive enforcement rather than a surge in kids cutting class. School Police also handed out nearly three times as many traffic and parking citations — 2,144 compared with 848 in the previous year.

Three high-profile student-involved shootings weren’t included in the statistics.

In December 2007 several Mojave High School students were shot and injured as they got off a school bus at a neighborhood stop. A former student faces charges in the incident. In February Palo Verde High School sophomore Christopher Privett was shot and killed as he walked home from school. Police say the drive-by gunman was a fellow student. Less than two weeks later Western High School sophomore Victor Bravo was shot and killed while walking a few blocks from Gibson Middle School.

There’s another important element that isn’t reflected in the annual school crime report, said Phil Gervasi, president of the Clark County School District Police Officers Association.

Officers field tips from students and defuse confrontations before they escalate, he said.

“There’s no way for us to know how many crimes we prevent,” Gervasi said. “What we do know is the presence of our officers on campus is a critical deterrent.”

School Police currently have 152 officers and 24 vacant positions, said Lt. Ken Young, a department spokesman.

Although a majority of officers work daytime shifts, the department has staff working around the clock, Young said. The 24-officer shortage has led to some “creative scheduling” to cover the swing and overnight shifts, Young said.

School Police and the district have been locked in contract negotiations for about 18 months. Gervasi said the union isn’t demanding a large pay hike, but wants to rearrange the existing pay scale.

“We got the same 2 percent (raise) as everybody else in the School District this year and we’re satisfied,” Gervasi said. “We understand there’s a financial crisis going on.”

With both sides due back at the negotiating table next week, the annual school crime report could take on added significance.

In previous years an increase in campus assaults or confiscated knives has been used by the union to rally public support for its cause. That’s often resulted in angry parents crowding into School Board meetings to demand answers, while district officials urge people to view the statistics in their proper context.

But Gervasi said there are no plans to use the stats as leverage at the bargaining table.

“This isn’t about negotiations,” Gervasi said. “This is about keeping kids safe.”