Respected Gordonvale Principal calls for permanent police presence in every school

A Far North Queensland principal has called on the government to install permanent police officers in all schools where violence has reached a crisis point.

A Cairns-based principal of an independent school is calling on the state government to introduce permanent police officers at all campuses in Queensland where schoolyard violence is reaching crisis point.

Head of Djarragun College Michael Barton believes having a police presence in his school would deter students from breaking the law.

Speaking after a series of violent videos showed students fighting on and off campus, Dr Barton said the situation was complex, but the courts system was “the best way to keep children accountable”.

“We need to not shy away from putting young people through the criminal justice system,” Dr Barton said.

Dr Michael Barton wants a police officer based permanently in his school.

“It keeps people accountable. Values are being eroded. Churches have fallen over. The political system is governed by cycles. The only place we can trust now is the court system.”

Queensland has a school-based policing program which is a joint initiative between the Queensland Police Service and the education department.

In the Far North officers are shared across multiple schools with the aim of “promoting positive relationships between the school community and police”.

Independent schools are not eligible.

Dr Barton said his calls for school-based officers had so far fallen on deaf ears.

It comes after the Australian Catholic University conducted a survey of 2300 principals for its Institute for Positive Psychology and Education which found 48 per cent of respondents were subjected to physical violence — the highest figure recorded since 2011.

The report showed there had been a 76.5 per cent increase in cases of physical violence since 2011.

Djarragun College is an independent school based in Gordonvale.

Dr Barton said along with teachers feeling exhausted, “there is too much regulation and too much bureaucracy in the school”.

“Meanwhile, Youth Justice is short-staffed,” he said.

“I’m not suggesting setting them up for jail, but parents feel hamstrung and there is no general deterrence.”

Associate Professor Jacqueline Drew, a police scholar with the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Griffith Criminology Institute, said having a police officer could work if it was used in a particular way.

“One of the dangers of having police in schools is that it over-criminalises schools,” she said.

“It takes a village — social workers and psychologists to deal with these issues.”

She said research indicated having police in the school to “engage with parents and students” had been found to improve community safety and build relationships with young people to help with their education.

“Police officers in schools has also been shown to reduce truancy in schools across Queensland,” she said.

Djarragun College students have been seen fighting in videos posted to Instagram over the last year. Picture: Instagram

Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory — assistant secretary Paul Giles said the safety of staff and students was the school’s responsibility.

“In regard to Djarragun College, our union (IEU-QNT) has raised concerns about the safety of staff and students with the school employer at various times in the last two years,” he said.

“The fundamental responsibility of student and staff safety at any school rests with the school employer.”

Bill Dixon, the Catholic Diocese of Cairns executive director, added: “We acknowledge that our schools are part of their local communities and interact with police positively on a range of issues, but do not think that permanently placing police officers into our schools would be necessary, desirable or effective.”

A spokeswoman from the Queensland Police Service said Queensland already had School Based Police Officers (SBPO), School Support Officers (SSO) and the Adopt-a-Cop programs.

Originally published as Respected Gordonvale Principal calls for permanent police presence in every school