Columbia Heights board reviews youth outreach officer agreement; police data show no officer use-of-force last year

The Columbia Heights Public Schools board on Aug. 12 reviewed a revised youth outreach officer agreement with the City of Columbia Heights and received police data covering multiple school years.

Board members heard that the police reports pulled for the 2024–25 school year show no use-of-force incidents by the district’s youth outreach officer. "There were no use of force incidents by the youth outreach officer last school year. I don't remember a school year where we had no use of force used at all," Chief Markham said while presenting the department’s breakdown of calls and reported incidents.

The presentation compared incidents at Columbia Academy and the high school across three school years. Chief Markham reported 28 incidents at the high school and 17 at Columbia Academy in the most recent school year. He cautioned the board that the department’s records-management labels can make summaries appear to list “offenders” even when juveniles were not charged, and he explained that some entries reflect…