FILE:  KLG

Cf:  JCABC

RELATIONS WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS

In response to the need to maintain order and discipline within the schools as well as safeguard the rights of students, the Bossier Parish School Board finds it desirable to employ, request the assistance of, and otherwise cooperate with the services of professional trained law enforcement officers.  The ultimate goal of such cooperation and the primary purpose of this policy is the safety of the student body, the staff and visitors in the school.

Such cooperation shall be primarily judged by the reasonableness of the action and judgments of the various parties determined according to what was known or reasonably should have been known to them at the time of any incident.  The standard for reasonableness by this policy is that the action taken is one that an average, reasonable, prudent person might have chosen.

When an imminent threat to the safety of students or staff occurs, law enforcement officers, unless they are specifically told otherwise, shall be authorized to act as agents of the Board for the purpose of ensuring safety. 

Police officers whose regular duties include working as School Resource Officers under an agreement with the Bossier City Police Department or Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Department shall have the authority set forth in the preceding paragraph.  At all other times, police officers, while welcome on campus, have only the authority granted to them by the laws of the State of Louisiana.

Ref:     US Constitution, Amend. IV

US Constitution, Amend. XIV, Sec. 1

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:81, 17:416, 17:416.3

Moore v. Student Affairs Committee of Troy State University, 284 F.Supp. 725 (M.D. Ala. 1970)

New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 105 S.Ct. 733

Bossier Parish School Board