Atlanta Public Schools Vote to Hire Own Police

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Board of Education voted Monday to begin hiring its own security personnel, rather than contracting with the Atlanta Police Department. 

Board members approved adding four new positions to Atlanta Public Schools including chief of police, security operations director, emergency management compliance manager and executive director of safety and security.  APS will add a total of 90 to 100 security employees, 50 to 60 of which will be police officers.

"We'll be starting the hiring process over the next month or two for the key leaders in the department and then it would become effective July 1," explained Deputy Superintendent David Jernigan.

The move will give the system more control over who polices the schools.  Jernigan said it will also allow them to train officers in a way that aligns with APS's new philosophy emphasizing "social and emotional learning."

"They will be armed, sworn officers," explained Jernigan.  "But the biggest thing that hopefully will look different for kids is that our officers are going to be trained to build relationships with kids in a very different way."

The switch should not cost the district any more money, Jernigan added.