What Obama’s New Military-Equipment Rules Mean for K-12 School Police
Neither the L.A. school district nor the LASPD responded to an email and phone call from Rolling Stone requesting comment on this story, so it is not known if those 61 M-16s – or any other similar items – are still in the LASPD’s possession. But Criollo notes that Cortines’ statement does not deny that the department has weapons; rather, it denies that it has military-grade weapons. He believes the M-16s still reside with the district. “The district has publicly acknowledged returning the MRAP and three grenade launchers but has not responded to our demand for full transparency of all weapons in their possession nor those received through the 1033 program,” Criollo says. “We know there are at least 61 M-16s currently unaccounted for, that were in the possession of the school police in the beginning of the school year.”
“LAUSD is basically justifying the maintenance of the M-16 assault rifles, arguing that the M-16 has become a standard police weapon,” he says. Indeed, thousands of assault rifles – historically military weapons – have been transferred to police departments across the country via the 1033 program. “A weapon of war is in essence being justified as an everyday weapon that can be there to potentially use on children,” Criollo says.
Students and teachers from LAUSD are similarly concerned about the district potentially still having these weapons. Laura Aguilar, a high school senior from South Central, argues that guns like the M-16 have historically been used against people of color, starting in Vietnam. “[They’re] meant for destruction. I don’t want [their presence] to be the destruction of my community.” Aguilar is a youth leader with Fight for the Soul of the Cities, which organized a rally last week demanding that President Obama end the 1033 program altogether.
Michael Davis, a fellow senior and youth leader, warns against seeing Obama’s restrictions as a victory. “It becomes a conversation of what weapons are going to be used, instead of no weapons being used,” says Davis. “I can’t call it a victory because it’s still guns, and police, and weapons in my community.”
High school social studies teacher Mark Gomez agrees: “It’s hard to fully get behind and support these kinds of announcements and pretend like the community organizing work that you’re doing is finished when you have a country that continues to outspend half the globe in military spending, and simultaneously under-fund public education,” he says. Gomez says he’s witnessed the impact weaponized school police have on his students, many of whom are already navigating trauma and socio-economic challenges. “It’s hard for students to believe that their education institutions want, encourage, and are trying to develop them as civic agents . . . when, on the other side, you’re talking to a highly militarized entity.”
For young people like Aguilar and Davis, the safety of students depends on the complete demilitarization of the police, not just a scaled-back weapons list. “The way we see it is: one bullet, one gun, one life that we are not willing to lose,” says Davis.
“These are weapons that are used in war,” says Aguilar. “And the warfare now is towards people of color.”