Putting officers into schools adds to strain

March 29, 2001

With hoaxes, threats and rumors of violence bedeviling San Diego County schools since a pair of school shootings at East County campuses, police have been scrambling to respond.

And that is taking away from other responsibilities, costing taxpayers an untold amount in police overtime and frustrating already overworked officers.

"I don't believe a day has gone by that we haven't been called to a school concerning some kind of threat," said Chula Vista police Lt. Don Hunter. "Many of the threats we've been out on probably would not have generated a call prior to Santana." He was referring to the shootings at Santana High School in Santee.

Officials at most departments, including the San Diego Police Department, say the added burden of guarding schools hasn't substantially interfered with regular police work. But with officers treating nearly every rumor and threat as potentially real, gaps and strains are beginning to show.

Among the examples:

 In Vista, sheriff's deputies rushed to investigate a threat at Vista High School yesterday after a woman called to say her son was planning to harm others, said school Principal Robert Graeff. It was a hoax, but the campus was on lockdown during first period and about five deputies remained on campus throughout the day, Graeff said.

Those five deputies could have been elsewhere.

 In Escondido, a half-dozen bicycle officers normally assigned to community policing duties are stationed at the city's three high schools at the start and end of the school day.

 At Chula Vista High School last Thursday -- the same day as the Granite Hill High School shooting in El Cajon -- 30 officers were on the campus within 10 minutes of a bogus threat, officials there said. Nearly half of those officers had to be pulled from patrol and were tied up for a half hour.

Chula Vista patrol officers have had to be pulled into school duty "three of four times" since the two school shootings, Hunter said.

"They just weren't needed before that, he said.

 At Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, an anonymous telephone call Monday warning of a possible bomb drew in almost the entire staff of the city's sheriff's station.

"I don't want to say the whole station was involved," said Imperial Beach patrol Sgt. Tom Evans.

Who was involved?

"The school resource deputy, the patrol division, much of the detective division, the administrative staff . . . read between the lines."

Patrol units and school officers aren't the only ones facing higher workloads. The Sheriff's Department bomb/arson squad has been affected, said sheriff's Sgt. Conrad Grayson.

"We've had 40 calls so far this month alone," he said, adding that he only counts the calls that he and his team of seven deputies actually respond to.

"We don't respond to threats," he said. "We only show up when something is actually found."

In East County, El Cajon police are trying to juggle schedules and overtime assignments in an effort to put at least one and possibly two officers on high school and middle school campuses, said Lt. Fred Morrison.

"It's obviously increasing our volume (of calls) and taxing our staff," Morrison said.

Assistant Sheriff Tom Zoll has directed sheriff's stations around the county to make patrol deputies available to ensure school safety, said San Marcos sheriff's Sgt. Bruce Ruff.

Ruff declined to offer specifics on how San Marcos deputies are stepping up their presence in and around schools.

"We are paying close attention to school operations and the safety of students and faculty and everyone else," he said.

On Tuesday, Sheriff Bill Kolender will ask the Board of Supervisors to authorize a plan to have a deputy on the seven high school campuses in the Grossmont Union High School District that fall within the sheriff's jurisdiction.

Those schools include Santana and West Hills high schools in Santee; Valhalla High School in unincorporated El Cajon and Steel Canyon High School in Rancho San Diego; El Capitan High School in Lakeside; and Monte Vista and Mount Miguel high schools in Spring Valley.

To have a deputy on each campus during the remainder of the school year would cost $65,000. Approximately $33,000 would come from the sheriff's budget, while the rest would come from the high school district and the city of Santee.

The city of El Cajon has a contract with the Grossmont district to provide one officer for both Granite Hills and El Cajon Valley high schools.

Since the shootings, however, the city has been picking up the tab for providing one officer on each campus full time, said City Manager Bill Garrett, including Grossmont High School and Chaparral Continuation School. Grossmont and Chaparral had never had an officer stationed at the schools before the Santana shooting.