More than 150 law enforcement and school officials from throughout southeastern Wisconsin are participating today in a regional training conference in Milwaukee sponsored by the Attorney General s Office. Attorney General Jim Doyle said the training is part of an ongoing statewide school violence prevention initiative he started in March, 1999. Today s conference is the final of three sessions Doyle has held around the state this spring. In addition to exploring legal issues related to school safety, the sessions create a dialogue that focuses on the best practices for creating and maintaining safe schools for our children. The training sessions also discuss the importance of police-school partnerships, strategies to deal with bullying and other forms of demeaning behavior by students and the benefits of community involvement in promoting schools and neighborhoods that are safe and free of violence.
Schools don t make kids violent.
We need to retain a broad focus on continuing to keep Wisconsin s schools safe while also ensuring that children are safe in their communities and at home. Doyle said that the training conferences were prompted by numerous requests by school and police officials. Approximately 2,200 educators and law enforcement officials have attended safe school seminars sponsored by the Attorney General s Office over the last two years. In addition to convening 17 school safety training sessions over the last two years, Doyle s office has developed a Safe School Legal Resource Manual that has been distributed to all schools and law enforcement agencies in the state. The publication provides important advice on a number of legal issues related to school violence prevention.