School police propose updated general orders emphasizing community engagement and limits on secondary employment
Summary
The Baltimore City School Police presented proposed revisions to general orders addressing organizational structure, take-home vehicles, nepotism, secondary employment, overtime, and a new community relations unit that will run outreach programs including a "haircuts" mentorship initiative.
Baltimore City School Police presented a package of proposed revisions to its general orders to the Board of School Commissioners on May 27, describing organizational updates, clarified personnel rules, and the creation of a community relations unit aimed at strengthening ties between officers, students and families.
Chief Shorter (chief of school police) told the board the draft updates align with the districts priorities and contemporary community policing best practices. Key changes include reorganizing the patrol and administrative sections, changing a rank designation from captain to major, and new rules for take-home vehicles that restrict how far officers may drive district vehicles off duty and clarify responsibilities for impound fees and citations. "Members need approval from the chief of school police to use a take-home vehicle for secondary employment," the presentation said.
Other personnel-related changes would prohibit romantic or intimate relationships between supervisors and direct reports (nepotism/fraternization policy), and set clearer definitions and limits on secondary employment. The proposed overtime and secondary-employment rules prioritize regular shift coverage and limit the maximum hours employees can work in combined regular duty and outside employment (a 72-hour weekly cap was described, with no more than 32 hours allowed for secondary-employment overtime), and the draft requires overtime to be routed through the school polices online system.
The package also includes a new light-duty policy (temporary restricted assignments for eligible personnel, limited to 12 months) and an updated internal-investigation structure that places oversight with an administrative major and authorizes joint investigations with external agencies when appropriate.
Chief Shorter highlighted the proposed community relations unit and described a school-based outreach example, "Haircuts for the Holidays," where barbers and credentialed student trainees provided free haircuts and a place for restorative conversation with students from several elementary schools. "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you come to school and you want to learn," a school police spokesperson said in a video excerpt.
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is engaged in ongoing review of several provisions, especially secondary-employment and overtime rules, the presenter said. The revisions will return for further board consideration after stakeholder engagement and the FOP review.
Ending: The board heard the proposals and asked clarifying questions. No vote was taken; the board will await negotiated changes and return the updated general orders for future review.
