Salinas school districts reject resource officers — whats next?

“We are not aliens from outer space,” said Salinas Police Chief Adele Frese.

But the police department is feeling alienated after two school districts said “no” to resource officers on campus.

“From what we’ve seen, (this) is for the purpose of obstructing any ability or any effort that we have to connect with our community,” Frese said.

The $3.4 million federal grant the department got to pay for those officers can’t be used on anything else.

“So the argument that, well, instead of school resource officers, we want councilors, etc. It doesn’t work that way,” Frese said.

The grant expires at the end of August if no officers are in place by that time.

Even though the school boards have made their decision, parents can still ask for change.

“If there are enough parents out there that want to address any item that’s been on the board agenda, they are certainly welcome to do it,” said Marcos Cabrera, with Alisal Union School District.

And Frese isn’t giving up on the community. She said they’re still trying to build relationships with young people.

“I will continue to work through the schools. I mean, they have student governments, they have different interest groups we can address,” Frese said.

Frese said the police department is also looking into extending the grant deadline.

Any schools interested in getting resource officers can contact the department or the city manager’s office.