Does Hercules Need More School Cops?

Since the start of the school year, police in Hercules have been called to Hercules Middle/High School 161 times, the Contra Costa Times reports.

The figure is significant not only because the Hercules Police Department has eight fewer officers than it used to, but because Hercules is the only city in the West Contra Costa Unified School District with only one district-funded police officer, the Times reported.

Pinole and other cities in the district each have two officers at their schools.

The talk about school resource officers was part of a larger discussion about school safety during this week's joint meeting between the Hercules City Council and the district board of education.

The school board reportedly offered a solution during the Tuesday meeting:

School board President Madeline Kronenberg and Superintendent Bruce Harter promised to try to take care of that problem immediately by bringing a vote to approve funding an extra officer at the school board's Feb. 6 meeting.

If the district chooses to fund another officer for schools in Hercules, it wouldn't be alone: President Barack Obama this week directed the Department of Justice to provide grants to fund 1,000 more school cops around the nation.

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Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the number of times police have received calls from Hercules Middle/High School. Patch regrets the error.

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Readers, what do you think? Are Hercules schools short on police protection? Tell us your thoughts on school safety in the comments below.