KEY POINTS:
A scheme to place police officers in secondary schools risks breaching youth rights if it is not carefully thought out, says a youth lawadvocate.
Police will have five specially trained officers working in 10 secondary schools in South Auckland from next month.
Youth Law senior solicitor John Hancock said he was surprised at the scheme. Few details had been made available on how it would operate and the intended role of the police.
The lack of clarity raised questions, such as how the role would differ from visiting police education and community liaison officers.
Mr Hancock said he wanted to know whether it would involve active policing and the questioning of students to obtain information.
There was a risk that youth rights could be breached if law enforcement was one of the scheme's intentions.
Mr Hancock said that, for instance, where a person aged 16 or under was suspected of an offence and questioned by police, he or she had the right to have an independent adult of his or her choosing present.
"There is potential for rights to be breached if the issues are not thought out carefully with good guidelines."
Mr Hancock said he would be concerned about a focus on law enforcement where "a whole lot of situations could arise".
He could not see such a role as conducive to fostering positive relationships.
"There could be an authoritarian message that schools are subject to a more obtrusive level of involvement."
Mr Hancock was also concerned about the potential blurring of duties, as schools' jurisdiction traditionally covered student behaviour.
"Youth issues are in the spotlight generally this election year ... It sounds like policy on the fly."
Gerald van Waardenberg, Auckland regional chairman of the Post Primary Teachers Association, the secondary school teachers' union, said he was concerned at the "minimal consultation" over the scheme.
Mr van Waardenberg teaches at Otahuhu College, which has been earmarked for the scheme, but said teachers there had no idea it was being introduced next month.
"There were some exploratory surveys last year but nothing to indicate what was going to happen."
The Otahuhu PPTA branch met yesterday to discuss the implications, and teachers were concerned at the lack of information on the process and on having a police presence in schools.
"The parameters of police participation is so far unknown."
Mr van Waardenberg said he would contact teachers at the other schools involved in the scheme to discuss the issue.
"We would have expected some sort of meeting with police and teaching staff."
Otahuhu College principal Gil Laurenson said his teachers would be fully briefed once the details were sorted out and the scheme was ready.
"We are still muddling along ... The nitty gritty is still being worked on."
Mr Laurenson did not believe there would be a blurring of roles between teachers and the police officers.
Otahuhu College was aware of youth rights, and already followed standard procedures when police became involved.
The school already had other professionals on its premises, including a fulltime social worker and two nurses.
