Keep or disband Granite police?

Should Granite School District keep its police force, and to what extent?

The questions were put to the Granite Board of Education in a Tuesday study session. While they must wait for a regular board meeting to give an answer — discussion is likely in May — several board members indicated they like having child-focused officers guarding their schools.

But if that's the case, they better hurry and say so, police and district officials said. Three cops — nearly 20 percent of the force — quit this month out of uncertainties about the force's future.

"If we don't receive some direction from the board, we will continue to lose officers at a rapid rate," Granite Superintendent Steve Ronnenkamp said. "That's a real question before the board. . . . Do you want a police department, and if so, what level of service."

The Granite Police Department, complete with around-the-clock dispatchers and patrols, was born following legislative action in 1985, chief Jerry Nielsen said, but has provided security since 1970. It aims to keep schools safe and develop relationships between schools, police and courts.

Granite's is Utah's only school district police department, now that Jordan has disbanded its force. The district spends about $1.4 million a year to keep it afloat — a venture school board president Patricia Sandstrom says pays for itself in staved-off vandalism alone. Plus, several board members said, the cops focus on juveniles, be it in responding to bullying incidents or some 110 reports of schoolchildren gone missing last year.

"The safety of our children has to be our highest priority," Ronnenkamp said, adding the budget item is examined annually. "Dare I say, we probably have better (police) coverage, better safety, than other areas I'm familiar with."

But the department is not without controversy.

In January, a 25-year veteran officer was charged with aggravated assault in the alleged shooting of a burglary suspect following a high-speed chase in Salt Lake City, which is outside district boundaries.

Lawmakers questioned the department's existence. A bill once threatened to abolish school district police forces, but the matter instead will be studied in the interim, Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, told the board.

"Don't think the Legislature has concerns with . . . officers in schools. We want our schools to be safe," Bigelow said. "The question is . . . though they are (certified) and certainly qualified to go outside of schools, is that something we want them to do?"