Group calling on LAUSD board to bring police back on campuses

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Jessica Guzman spoke before the L.A. Unified School District board, demanding the board bring back school police on campuses.

Guzman recently graduated high school and said her last few years in school were scary without the presence of school police.

"There were some reports of a shooting on campus, and we thought it was an active shooter," Guzman said.

Calls to downsize or remove school police on public school campuses surged nationwide during protests over the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. The 5 year anniversary of that killing approaching.

"Most of the parents in this district did not know that was happening, that there was a movement to remove the school police because the schools were closed here in L.A., that was during the pandemic," said Maria Luisa, a parent.

On the heels of protests to defund school police, the LAUSD board had approved a plan to cut the district's security force by a third. The board also scrapped $25 million from the school police budget, the largest amount ever defunded from a school police budget.

Jena Noyes has two kids in school in the district. She told the school board she conducted a survey as part of her role on the PTA, and most parents in her survey said they want police back on campuses.

In the 2018-2019 school year, LAUSD reported 2,315 incidents of fighting and physical aggression on school campuses. That number nearly doubled in 2022-2023 school year to 4,569.

"We want the school board to bring back school police inside the campus because now we see so many ... drugs and violence inside the schools," said another parent identified only as Diana.

ABC7 reached out to the LAUSD superintendent's office and the school board, but neither have made a comment about the issue.