School police report firearm recovered from employee; committee hears automated bus-enforcement update
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Summary
Lieutenant Banaca told the Brockton School Committee that a firearm was recovered from a school department employee found on school property; the employee is on administrative leave and criminal charges are pending. Banaca also outlined a new state-authorized automated enforcement program for vehicles illegally passing school buses and said four citations have been issued.
Lieutenant Banaca reported to the Brockton School Committee that school police recovered a firearm from a school department employee who was on school property; the employee was placed in custody, is on administrative leave and criminal charges are pending.
The report, delivered during the committee's school safety and security item, said the employee did have a license to carry but did not have written authorization to carry on campus. "Carrying a gun or a weapon on school property is a crime and is arrestable unless you're a law enforcement officer or you have written permission or authorization to carry on campus from what they call the board or officer in charge of the institution," Banaca told the committee.
Banaca also briefed members on a recent change in state enforcement for vehicles that illegally pass stopped school buses. Under a state-authorized automated enforcement process, school bus operators provide video of violations; school police obtain the footage and issue citations to registered owners. "We will obtain the video, and the registered owner will then receive a citation," Banaca said, adding that the fines escalate from $250 for a first offense to $500 and $1,000 for subsequent violations and that the department has issued four automated-enforcement citations so far.
Committee members asked operational questions about how bus cameras are triggered and whether cameras record exterior violations. Banaca said the department obtains video from bus operators and that the district has already used such footage to write citations. He also described staffing constraints for school police, saying officers rotate among schools and that the department is "woefully understaffed" for all assigned duties.
Members acknowledged the report and asked for follow-up details from transportation staff on camera operation and for statistics on staffing and citations. Separately, the committee voted to send a proposed pilot program for dedicated parking enforcement during drop-off and pick-up at a high-risk school to the safety and security subcommittee for development and cost review.
The committee's next procedural step on the safety report is further review in the safety and security subcommittee, where members asked staff to provide clarifying data about camera recording behavior, citation counts, and enforcement staffing.
