Inquirer editorial: Let's not confuse cops with hall monitors

It's understandable that people are still talking about the Collingswood third grader questioned by police at school for making a racially insensitive remark about brownies. The seemingly innocuous incident adds context to the rallies and marches protesting the over-the-top police tactics that have made many in minority communities fear any cop they see.

Collingswood schools have rescinded their policy of calling the police for any incident of alleged misbehavior. Officers had been responding to complaints ranging from a game of tag being too aggressive to a girl being called "Aunt Jemima." In the case at hand, a 9-year-old boy was questioned for saying brownies served at a class party were "made out of burnt black people."

The triviality of the Collingswood police calls lends weight to Dallas Police Chief David Brown's comments Monday after the massacre that left five of his officers dead. "Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve," Brown said. "Not enough mental health funding - let the cops handle it. ... Here in Dallas, we got a loose dog problem; let's have the cops chase loose dogs. Schools fail, let's give it to the cops. That's too much to ask."

Confronted with the silliness of calling police for routine school disciplinary matters, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo denied having anything to do with it. But Collingswood schools Superintendent Scott Oswald said "there were plenty of ears in the room that heard that" directive from prosecutors in a May 25 meeting of school and law enforcement officials, which included Police Chief Kevin Carey and Mayor Jim Maley.

Oswald said police were called to Collingswood schools up to five times a day before the policy was rescinded. Apparently, it was instituted in response to the school district's failure to report an incident at Collingswood High School in a timely fashion. Police have refused to discuss that incident, which reportedly involved a "sexting" allegation against a student. Regardless, the result was an overreaction.

The mother of a 7-year-old who was questioned by police for tussling with a friend in the lunchroom line says the boy thought he had been arrested. She didn't hear about the incident until hours later, when an officer knocked on her door. She believes her son was traumatized by being grilled by cops without a parent present. One can only imagine how the child will relate to police years from now.

That same fear of police exists among many African Americans and other minorities whose neighborhoods are patrolled by officers whose behavior too often resembles that of soldiers in enemy territory. While police must be on guard, they shouldn't lack empathy and respect for the people they serve. That shortcoming is the target of the Black Lives Matter movement, which was ignited by deaths of black suspects at the hands of police. In the same vein, police officers deserve respect, too.

Trust is the missing ingredient - trust that is stronger when it grows from childhood. Years ago, it seemed all an officer had to do to win children's admiration was occasionally visit a school. Today, cops patrol some schools like prison guards. And at others, they interrogate kids for comparing brownies to black people.

Collingswood's policy requiring schools to call police so frequently - even when their presence might do more harm than good - is gone. But perhaps it taught a valuable lesson.