Not enough staff to continue school resource officer program, says Charlottetown Police

Charlottetown police officers will no longer be stationed at the city's high schools due to a lack of staffing, said Charlottetown police Chief Brad MacConnell.

The school resource officer program began in 2010, and up until the current school year, had one officer each at Colonel Gray and Charlottetown Rural high schools. The officers dealt mainly with student safety and community engagement.

"It really came down to staffing issues and a lack of resources," said MacConnell in an interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

The City of Charlottetown funded the school resource officer program.

Building of 'social capital'

The ending of the program has led to an opportunity for a lot of discussion, said MacConnell.

"Is it the best use of policing resources, limited policing resources to put police officers in schools, or [are] there other professionals like social workers and such, that that funding could be used for?" he said.

The force recognizes the value in this program and is hoping to continue to engage with high school students in some form moving forward, said MacConnell.

"Where we really saw the value was the engagement of students with our officers," he said.

"Being able to interact in a different setting and building, you know, trust and respect. And hopefully that trust and respect will extend beyond their school years and if they ever come in contact with police beyond that, that we certainly have built up some social capital."

MacConnell said the staffing issues at the police force don't only affect the school resource officer program.

"Our issue is finding the additional resources or the funding to create the new positions to deal with our growing population, our diverse population, and the increasing demands and expectations from the community," he said.

Mental health calls up

The police service has seen a large increase in mental health calls in the past few years, said MacConnell.

"Since 2018, mental health calls have increased 152 per cent and growing by the year," he said.

The P.E.I. RCMP also saw an increase in mental health calls in 2022.

MacConnell said those types of calls can take a lot of time and resources.