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Petition's aim: fewer police

A Tarpon Springs High junior wants police on campus only for emergencies.

By ELENA LESLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published October 14, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT William Kilgore

TARPON SPRINGS - The discussion about Islam was just heating up when police with drug-sniffing dogs showed up at the door of William Kilgore's second-period classroom.

All students in the Tarpon High School world religions class were ordered to turn over any illegal substances and file into the hallway. They did as instructed while the officers led the dogs through the empty classroom.

A few minutes later, students were allowed to return to their desks. But according to Kilgore, a junior, the rest of the period was largely a waste.

"It completed disrupted the class," he said. "Everyone was talking about it for the next 20 minutes."

For Kilgore, the whole incident was just another example of what he sees as an unnecessarily large police presence on campus. He said there are more officers around campus than ever before, and the dogs have made several appearances.

"It's not a fun way to start the school year," Kilgore said.

Now he's fighting the increased police presence. Kilgore crafted a petition demanding that officers be on campus only during emergencies.

"Tarpon Springs High School is an educational facility, not a re-education camp," Kilgore wrote in a letter to principal Kent Vermeer. "While I understand that drugs could present a serious disruption and nuisance on campus, this should not be met with overbearing force."

Police and school administrators, however, say the police presence is completely appropriate.

"It's not excessive in any way, shape or form," Vermeer said.

While the high school's two student resource officers were previously provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, this is the first year Tarpon Springs officers have taken on the positions.

The city's police department had already provided officers to the elementary and middle schools for a number of years, Chief Mark LeCouris said. When Sheriff's Office officials began discussing taking over all the student resource programs about a year ago, LeCouris was incensed.

"We have the best program I've ever seen," he said. "I told them they could pry the SRO program from my cold, dead hands."

The Sheriff's Office backed off and handed the two high school SRO positions over to the city. Despite a strained budget, the city allocated money for the officers, who are also partially funded by the school district.

"We have a different style," LeCouris said of his department's approach to school policing. "We have a total commitment to the school."

Tarpon Springs officers tend to be very proactive and involved with the campus, he said. Along with enforcement measures, officers at the high school will assume other roles, such as teaching traffic safety and making guest lectures in classrooms.

Because the officers are new to the school, they've been spending time getting acquainted with the campus and receiving training from other officers, Vermeer said.

"Parents are ecstatic that we're out there," LeCouris said. "I've been getting calls saying it's a great change."

But to some, that change is unwelcome.

Kilgore said he was originally told by Vermeer not to circulate his petition. But Kilgore lodged an appeal and the principal has since sent him a letter saying he can gather signatures, as long as it's not done during class time.

The teen says he'll take Vermeer up on that offer.

"I'm going for 150 signatures," he said. "Then, we'll see what happens."

Judging from the attitudes of officials and officers, it could be a tough sell.

"The safety and security of our campus," Vermeer said, "is not a negotiable item."

Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 727 445-4167.

[Last modified October 13, 2007, 20:28:50]