Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Mitch .... someone please find him a job....

Mitch, did you ever think about what the impact of your "public" grand standing and fear mongering does to the potential new comers looking to locate in Charlottetown. The Province is trying to lure health professionals here, businesses are trying to entice professionals to transfer here, immigrants are considering investing here, post secondary students are considering our schools, etc, etc.... but they aren't going to come here if we scare their families away.... if you think there is a problem at Colonel Gray then it's probably time to collect the facts by speaking to all the stakeholders before you start trying to solve it in the media.... maybe you could get all the stakeholders and some collective minds at City Hall (including the police) behind closed doors. If you all agree there is a problem then develop a strategy and implement it....but putting a cop in the school is insulting at any level… shooting your mouth off in public without the facts and without the views of other stakeholders just creates a negative stigma about our Community that may or may not be actually as bad as you believe... don't scare people away from our City with your grandstanding.... and don't accuse all the students at Colonel Gray because of a few bad apples... surely you must be able to find some other "silly" thing to get you name in the newspaper rather than insulting our students.... please someone find Mitch a real job to keep him busy and away from the public...
Charlottetown school needs police: councillor
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
CBC News
A Charlottetown city councillor wants to see a police officer permanently assigned to Colonel Gray High School.
Coun. Mitch Tweel told CBC News on Monday he's getting calls from people in the neighbourhood around the school who are complaining about illegal activity off school property. Students are loitering in the nearby church parking lot, and there are reports some of them are using drugs.
"The time has come for a strategy to be put in place so these safety and security issues are met head-on," said Tweel.
"You can't do that one day a week, you can't do it one day a month."
Tweel is calling for a six-month pilot project, but officials at the Eastern School District are not convinced.
Superintendent Sandy MacDonald agrees there should be an increased police presence, but disagrees officers are required in the hallways.
"What we do need is policing the parking lots from time to time, certainly the properties that are adjacent to our schools," said MacDonald.
"Assigning a police officer to patrol the school, the hallways and such, I don't know that's necessary on a daily basis."
Some students interviewed at the school by CBC News, however, agreed with Tweel that the situation is getting out of hand, saying there are too many drugs at the school.
"A lot of people have drugs and stuff in their locker … [a police presence] would help," said one student.
Tweel and MacDonald plan to meet with police and staff at Colonel Gray within the next couple weeks to discuss how best to increase security.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What if the City made Mitch a 'Special Constable' complete with walkie talkie and a little blue uniform to patrol the school grounds?

It would usher in a new era in citizen patrolling.

Might be wise to use an ankle braclet in case Mitch wanders off to the coffee shop!

Anonymous said...

Guess since he's running down the school across from your apartment building you're concerned....wonder if you'd have such a strong opinion if it was charlottetown rural ??

Anonymous said...

Tim,

There are real problems in secondary schools with bullying, drugs, vandalism, etc... just about everywhere. In our community we have chosen to have a School Resource Officer. This individual is a regular police officer who has been assigned to work throughout all the schools in the community, getting to know the kids, being on the lookout for problems and providing intervention, providing education to avoid larger problems and formal police intervention. A number of communities have similar programs here (in MA) and they have been very successful. If it is done properly it can be a good thing.