Black Lives Matter of Cincinnati recently launched a campaign to force police officers from patrolling local public schools.
The “CPD out of CPS Campaign,” led by members of BLM Cincinnati, is holding an event Saturday to remove the Cincinnati Police Department from Cincinnati public schools (CPS), reports Fox 19.
“We believe schools …, especially for people of color and poor neighborhoods, resemble more of a prison then places of education,” Mario Martone, a member of the BLM chapter, told Fox 19.
The event plans to feature a teach-in on the “school to prison pipeline,” according to the group’s Facebook event. The group will reportedly discuss how schools look more like prisons than education facilities.
“We believe schools should be a place of liberation geared toward disrupting the status quo rather than an engine for maintaining it,” the event page reads. “The constant harassment by police and the zero-tolerance policies towards our students are central in criminalizing, rather than uplifting, our children.”
Not all people agree with removing the police from the school system. Bishop Bobby Hilton, a community leader, said he agreed with correcting the “school to prison pipeline” issue, but disagreed with removing the police when they are at the schools to protect the students, according to reports.
Sgt. Dan Hils, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police for Cincinnati Police, said the event was another example of Black Lives Matter caring more about an agenda than actual black lives.
“The police officers that work in Cincinnati Public Schools are committed professionals that love the kids they work with,” Hils said.
The school district remained mostly quiet on the new initiative, but pointed out the district’s relationship with the police was a beneficial one, according to CPS spokeswoman Janet Walsh.
“Students value the officers’ presence and the officers involved really do take seriously their relationship to individual schools,” Walsh said.
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