Bridgeport parents call for reinstatement of resource officers

Parents in Bridgeport attended a Board of Education meeting Monday night to try to save dozens of paraprofessionals and five school resource officers recently laid off by the district. Some parents

News 12 Staff

Aug 23, 2016, 6:05 AM

Updated 3,067 days ago

Share:

Parents in Bridgeport attended a Board of Education meeting Monday night to try to save dozens of paraprofessionals and five school resource officers recently laid off by the district.
Some parents who attended the meeting at Geraldine Johnson Elementary School say that having the resource officers and paraprofessionals would help their children feel safer, especially after Sunday's shooting on Plymouth Street that injured 13 people.
One parent, Crystal Mack, says at times the resource officers are almost like father figures to the students, allowing them to feel comfortable enough to share information with the other officers that would allow them to prevent some crimes.
She also says they can provide some guidance for students.
"It takes a village to raise a child," she says. "So you need all the people that really care for our kids."
Superintendent Fran Rabinowitz tells News 12 while she understands that school resource officers have a special relationship with students, she's not sure how reinstating the five officers could have prevented Sunday's shooting from happening.
She says the city's Board of Education has the final say on the matter and that currently, their reinstatement doesn't seem very likely.