Patrolling of Schools by Community Patrols of New Zealand

Introduction

The Ministry of Education provides guidance to schools on crime prevention and encourages all schools to have a security policy. The Ministry of Education appreciates the contribution community patrols make to school security.

The school's board of trustees is responsible for creating and maintaining a school security policy. The school security policy should include:

1. who is responsible for security
2. what staff training is required and how it is managed
3. how the school consults with and informs staff, students, parents and other stakeholders of security issues
4. rules around permissible access to grounds and school during and after hours by staff, students and visitors
5. use of electronic surveillance (this may exist as a separate policy)
6. how the school responds to and reports security incidents, including prosecution
7. how the school creates relationships with the police and neighbours

Each school will also have an emergency management plan that relates to emergencies such as a fire or earthquake.

Community Patrols of New Zealand (CPNZ)

Community patrols operate widely throughout New Zealand, conducting mobile patrols and some foot patrols in most cities and many towns. The patrollers are all volunteers who put in a number of hours every month to assist Police with the safety and security of their community.

Community patrollers are all vetted by the Police and work closely with a local police officer assigned to act as a liaison officer to the community patrol. Patrols are involved with the Police Tasking & Coordination process with an emphasis on 'hotspots' for crime, graffiti, and disorder.

Contacting Schools

• Community patrols should deal directly with individual schools
• A designated community patrol school liaison officer will provide the single point of contact between the patrol and the school
• Contact is made with the most appropriate person at the school (often the principal or property manager) or a representative from the school board
• The community patrol school liaison officer contacts the school and makes this guideline available to the principal and board of trustees
• Arrangements for patrols are agreed upon by both parties. This should cover –
  • Days of the week and times the community patrol usually operates
  • The extent of patrols area of operation within the school (boundaries, entry and exit points)
  • The process / school representative to provide a report to on any incident or damage discovered by the patrol
  • Identification of local (private) security arrangements
  • Identification of areas not covered by CCTV, a burglar alarm or effective lighting
  • Availability of keys and key-holder
  • Identification of ‘hotspots’ or areas of concern within the school (e.g., computer rooms)

Risk Assessment

The community patrol school liaison officer should conduct a risk assessment process prior to commencing patrols of the school. This process should include a discussion with representatives from the school, local police and private security provider on:

• The types and frequency of offences which have occurred at the school over the past 12 months
• The locations within the school where offences have occurred
• Any concerns held by any of the parties stated above* Areas of the school not covered by CCTV, a burglar alarm or with effective lighting

Service provided

• Community patrols provide additional "eyes and ears" for the school as they do in other areas of the city or town.
• Community patrols should not be seen by schools as a replacement for licensed security consultants, security guards or a substitute for calling police when required.
• Community patrols may undertake to patrol or surveil a school but cannot be held responsible if unable to meet any commitment because their first responsibility is to assist the Police when required.
• Community patrollers patrol in pairs and generally stay in their vehicle; however each patrol determines the type of patrol based on their patrol availability and after discussion with the school.

Working with Security

Prior to commencing patrols at the school the designated community patrol school liaison officer should meet with any contracted security consultant or security guard and make this guideline available.

Community patrollers need to be clear about whose responsibility it is and any procedure for calling out a key-holder, a glazier for broken glass or to initiate a clean up crew for graffiti etc.

Security providers should be provided with:

• Contact details of the community patrol and the community patrol school liaison officer
• A description of the community patrol vehicle or private vehicle using CPNZ reflectorised magnetic signs
• Days of the week and times the community patrol usually operates

The community patrol school liaison officer should obtain from the security provider:

• Contact details of the security patrol
• A description of the security vehicle
• Description of the services provided

Exchanging contact details enables the community patrol and security provider to advise each other of incidents such as trespassers, graffiti and other vandalism.

Operational meetings

A regular meeting, perhaps once a term, should be set with the school and with security if possible for reviewing the occurrence log.

Consideration should be given to applying the 'SARA' problem solving process to reoccurring problems. Templates for this process are available on the Neighbourhood Support internet site http://www.ns.org.nz/ in the fact sheet Neighbourhood Problem Solving.

When an incident occurs

The four Ds of community patrolling are Deter, Detect, Delay and Deny. Community patrol training covers the ability of community patrols to work within each of these tenants:

• Deter crime by proactive presence on patrol within or surrounding the school property
• Detect any offending whilst it is happening and detect opportunities created by doors or windows left insecure or by the placement of bins and other equipment against buildings creating a fire risk or giving access to roofs etc
• Delay and disrupt offending in progress by the presence of the patrol
• Deny the opportunity for offending by low speed high visibility patrolling in the vicinity of schools

Working with the wider school community

The wider school community, including the school's immediate neighbours, should be advised that the community patrol may be assisting with the security of the school and how the community patrol can be recognised.

The school's immediate neighbours should be encouraged to take an active interest in what is happening in the school and know who to call should they see suspicious activity at the school. This can be achieved by addressing the issue at board of trustees meetings and by providing neighbouring residents of the school with an explanatory letter and contact phone numbers. This should be repeated at least yearly.

If the area is covered by Neighbourhood Support, they should be invited to participate to improve guardianship of the school. If not, the subject should be introduced as part of an overall planned approach for improving the security of the school.

A useful resource for schools experiencing recurrent burglaries is 'Burglary-Free: A strategy for primary schools and their communities'. This resource describes how schools, police and the wider community can partner together to prevent or reduce levels of burglary in and around schools.