MINNEAPOLIS — Amid controversy over a new school resource officer (SRO) law in Minnesota, a former SRO spoke out about his experiences at North Minneapolis High.
The law restricted officers from using certain holds on students and police departments said they couldn't do their jobs with this law in place in schools. Since then, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a revised opinion that SROs are still allowed to use restraints and reasonable force when making an arrest.
Still, many agencies have kept their SROs out of schools.
Charles Adams has firsthand knowledge when it comes to SROs. Right now - he coaches players at North Minneapolis High. But a few years ago, he was also responsible for protecting them as a SRO.
It's a responsibility he took very seriously.
"You got to insert yourself in that community," Adams said. "And that school is a community. Not just being somebody that works there and it's a 9 to 5 job."
But Minneapolis Public Schools ended its contract with Minneapolis police back in 2020, shortly after the murder of George Floyd - meaning no more SROs.
Adams said it's left a void.
"Like I've said a million times, you know, I feel that my school is the safest with me being there."
Recently, state lawmakers passed a new law banning SROs from using some forms of restraints — notably, the prone restraint — on students. In turn, a number of police departments in the state decided to pull their SROs from schools, saying it undermines the ability of officers to do their jobs.
Adams said that for him, the prone restraint was never in his arsenal.
"Me personally, being a big guy, I wouldn't even want to have anything that would let me do that when it comes to a child," Adams said. "It wasn't a position that I used quite often anyway when I was a police officer."
He said it shouldn't be a deal breaker for departments.
"That's just another tool that can protect you as a police officer," Adams said. "You can work around, and that's where you use your voices."
As an SRO, the job was less about force and more about relationships, which is something Adams brought up while talking about the death of North High Star quarterback Deshaun Hill last year.
Fifteen-year-old Hill was shot and killed after bumping into Cody Fohrenkam while walking in the neighborhood.
That day, students were released early from school to attend a protest.
Back in January, the Minneapolis Public School Board approved a $500,000 settlement with Hill's family. The family's attorney claimed the school's decision to allow students to leave early ultimately led to Hill's death.
"I know that parents rely on me in the school to keep you safe for those six hours," Adams said. "So I would have deterred those kids and came up with an alternative to do something else to keep them from going into the neighborhood."
Moments like that, he says, are why it's important for SROs to forge those relationships.
"Nope, man. You're not, you're not leaving, man," Adams said. "Go we'll go to the weight room. We'll watch film, you're not leaving. And I think about it every day."
He says SROs are needed - for a sense of safety and community.
"Being in the schools and working as an SRO is not a law enforcement job," Adams said. "It's a resource and a community connection. And once you approach that job that way, that's when your success comes."
KARE 11 did reach out to the district for comment, and to see if there is a plan to get resource officers back in schools. A spokesperson said they would get back to us.
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