Measure Z: Impacts On Native American Youths Highlighted as School Police Funded

Board of Supervisors Chair Mike Wilson

As Humboldt County supervisors approved Measure Z funding for school-based police programs, the effects it could have on “at-risk injustice-impacted” Native American youths was highlighted.

During the public comment period on Measure Z funding at the June 7 Board of Supervisors meetiing, Kelsey Reedy, a longtime member of the county’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquincy Prevention Commission, urged supervisors not to approve funding for Fortuna’s School Resource Officer (SRO) program.

Fortuna Police Chief Matthew Eberhardt

Reedy said school-based officers actually “increase the delinquency and juvenile justice referral rate through what’s called the school to prison pipeline,” with the majority of local youth referrals being Native American.

“As someone who monitors the Juvenile Hall population locally every month, we have had a disproportionate amount of native youth since I have been a commissioner over 10 years and sometimes that rate is up to 80 percent of our population,” she continued.” “And so I really feel like people need to consider that when understanding the impact of SROs on campuses, especially in Fortuna, that tends to arrest a pretty high rate of folks in the county.”

Up for approval was $400,000 for Fortuna’s school resource officer program, a doubling of the program’s current Measure Z funding.

A long debate among supervisors included what was described as a parity issue, as Arcata has applied for Measure Z funding for its school officer program and until now been turned down.

Reedy’s comments went unacknowledged until shortly before a majority of supervisors approved the school officer funding for the two cities along with other Measure Z spending.

Board Chair Mike Wilson joined the majority vote in favor of the funding but nodded to Reedy’s concerns.

“Before we close, I do want to raise the the comments of Kelsey Reedy who called in before and really questioned and talked about the actual data on SROs and their impacts on criminality within schools,” he said. “I think people should look at that and investigate it … I don’t have the data in front of me but she brought up some very good, I think, concerns around arrest rates, and what that does, versus diversion, and what that does.”

Wilson described school-based policing as an investment that should deliver returns.

“We really do have to think about what’s the bang for your buck in terms of helping kids and whether or not the whether or not those items and those technologies and those processes in our schools actually are doing the diversionary work that we’re trying to get to per dollar,” he said. “And I think Kelsey brought that up and I want to make sure that as a community we really are looking at, is that really the best way to spend money with kids?”

Speaking soon after Reedy, Fortuna Police Chief Matt Eberhardt didn’t respond to her comments and said he was speaking as a community member.

Fortuna Police Chief Matthew Eberhardt

He drew from his experience as a parent of two former Fortuna High School students and focused on the program’s policing aspect.

“I’ve gotten to see the benefits of the school resource officer, I’ve attended the school events, I’ve gotten to see those interactions and I think they’re worthwhile,” he said. “And I would rather have somebody there that is fully equipped, ready to handle the emergencies and the things that we have going on today, not just in the school but outside the school.”

He added, “I just watched the Fortuna fireworks festival and the number of problems we had there with youth — having the school resource officer be there and be able to interact and have people know who they are to help mitigate things, that’s important.”

Eberhardt said as a parent he’s been reassured by the presence of a police officer to “help deal with the fear I’ve had, as a parent, I’ve had my kids be sitting there in lockdowns – and I’d rather have a cop dealing with that situation to resolve it than a counselor.”

Shortly after, speaking in his capacity as chief, Eberhardt said Fortuna’s program includes 15 schools in the Eel River Valley and school officers deal with a variety of issues, including “social media conflicts that spill over into campus, mental health crisises, and drugs and vaping.”

The lengthy discussion leading up to the approvals centered around how to equitably spend what little discretionary Measure Z revenue there is over the next three years.

Deputy County Adminstrative Officer Sean Quincey said Measure Z annually funds 70 full time positions in six county departments at a current cost of about $11 million a year while there’s about $13 million of Measure Z revenue.

The staffing cost rises each year but Measure Z revenue is stagnant.

“If county need alone starts at $11.1 million and grows every year while revenue stays flat something has to give — either departments absorb the shortfall which they’ve historically done through vacancies or trimming their services or we reduce what’s available to community partners for applications,” he said.

Supervisors had different opinions on the spending and an initial motion to postpone decision-making until after November, when Fortuna voters will decide whether to approve a sales tax increase, resulted in a tie vote.

Supervisor Steve Madrone had been absent due to an emergency and because he’d missed a lot of the discussion, he abstained.

The follow-up vote approving one of the spending options on the table, including Fortuna’s additional SRO funding and adding $200,000 of new funding for Arcata’s program, got majority approval.

The other Measure Z spending in addition to the county positions is $1.2 million to the Humboldt Fire Chiefs Association, $325,000 to K’ima:w Medical Center’s ambulance service and $137,500 to Southern Trinity Area Rescue.