Rochester police school resource officers along with school administrators and community members attended a two day seminar that trained them in restorative practices.

A grant from the Feinbloom Foundation allowed Partners in Restorative Initiatives to sponsor the seminar. It introduced ways of building relationships and dealing with wrongdoing in city schools.

Group discussion and role playing helped the participants settle conflicts by bringing victims and offenders together to get to an agreeable resolution.

"It's a very respectful process,” said Jeanne Carlivati of Partners in Restorative Initiatives. “Everyone listens to each other, but more importantly, everyone in that circle gets to say what they need to make things right."

School resource officers say one of their biggest challenges is earning students respect. They believe this training will help them make kids feel more comfortable in the presence of police officers.

"When you see kids out on the street, they run to the firemen, but they run away from the policemen,” said Walt Sanders, a school resource officer at Edison Tech. “If we can just get the community involved and make youth realize that we're not only there to arrest them, we're there to give them assistance and whatever they need."

It's all about building relationships and it's believed that will lead to respect. Once school resource officers and administrators gain that respect, it will help them solve conflicts in a more peaceful manner.

"That's what really creates climate in a school building,” Carlivati explained. “When there's a peaceful climate wrongdoing doesn't occur as much. But conflict is a part of life and when it does occur this is a wonderful way to resolve conflicts."

This type of conflict resolution has already been implemented at Monroe High School.
Partners in Restorative Initiatives is looking to add it to another city school in the fall.