SRO bill will go before Public Safety committee

SRO bill will go before Public Safety committee (6 p.m.)

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(ABC 6 News) – At the Minnesota capitol, a bill considering changes to school resource officers will go before the Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee.

The new legislation, introduced yesterday, seeks to clarify what is and not permissible for SROs. The issue has led to more than 30 law enforcement agencies to pull their officers from schools.

The introduced bill would includes minimum standards for use-of-force, deescalating procedures, tactics to minimize prone restraints and other physicals holds.

— RELATED: Law enforcement questioning controversial SRO law

But some community members argue SROs shouldn’t have physical contact with children at all.

“I’m here to speak on behalf of the many Black children, especially black boys who will fall prey to non exclusionary disciplinary policies, practices and actions,” a National Parents Union representative said. “The conversation today just shows us how much work we still need to do.”

High school students, school psychologists and representatives from the National Alliances on Mental Illness are all scheduled to testify about the use of physical restraints in schools.

The bill went before another committee on Tuesday, Feb. 13.