Fairfield Families Win New Policies for Police in Schools

“We applaud the police department for working cooperatively with the families to address this specific incident and to establish clear policies to protect students’ rights in the future,” said Juniper Lesnik, attorney at the ACLU-NC.

On March 2, the Student Resource Officer (SRO) at Rodriguez High School and members of the Fairfield Police Department’s Gang Unit approached two groups of Latino students at lunch, lined them up in front of their peers, accused them of being gang members, and photographed them. “It was embarrassing,” said sophomore, Rosa Mares, “I felt afraid to go to school after that.”

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” added Victor Lopez, another sophomore who was among those photographed. “I was just talking to my friends. The police shouldn’t assume we’re gang members just because we’re Latino and wearing certain colors. Lots of kids were wearing the same thing we were on that day and nothing happened to them.”

The families immediately demanded an explanation from the school and the police department. After officials provided an inadequate response, the parents contacted the ACLU of Northern California. The negotiations that followed helped the parents secure today’s settlement, which includes the destruction of all of the photographs and information collected on that day, improved policies to create a safe educational environment at school, and an open letter to all RHS students clearing the targeted students of any wrongdoing.

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