Schools want Chester boundaries extended for police coverage at football games

Friday’s much-anticipated kickoff of high school football now includes a controversy that has nothing to do with points but who will handle security at the Chester-Lewisville rivalry game after the school district dumped county deputies for private security earlier this year.

The football security issue is the latest skirmish among the county sheriff, city police and administration, and the school district that has erupted in Chester County in the past few months.

In what was termed an “emergency”-called meeting of the Chester City Council late Wednesday, school district officials asked the city to extend the Chester limits two miles – to include Chester High School and other campuses – for “emergency police coverage of extra-curricular activities,” according to Annie Reid, a City Council member at the meeting.

Chester High, hosting Friday’s game, is outside the city limits. So in April, when the schools dropped sheriff’s deputies – who in past years handled security at games at Chester High – they lost the deputies who always worked the games. School resource officers patrolled games, as did several off-duty sheriff’s deputies who were paid extra for their time.

A city boundary extension would put Chester city police officers in a position to work the games and make the extra money.

The meeting came two days before Friday’s game. And the request to change boundaries came a week after Chester High officials asked Sheriff Alex Underwood if he would allow city officers to patrol games even though the schools dropped deputies.

Underwood said city police officers “have no jurisdiction outside the city” and he will not give authority for them to work outside jurisdictional lines. He sent a letter explaining that position to schools and city leaders.

Underwood, who has called the decision to replace his deputies with private security wrong and “unsafe,” said he explained, again, that he is willing to sign a written agreement with the school district to provide off-duty deputies at games in the county, with the school district paying for the deputies’ time.

But school officials have not asked Underwood for deputies, he said.

“If the school district asks and we have it in writing, I will say yes – period,” Underwood said. “But they haven’t.”

The City Council approved the boundary change Wednesday, but the county also must approve it. County supervisor Shane Stuart as of Thursday had not acted on the request for an emergency meeting on the issue.

Sandi Worthy, Chester city administrator, said it is possible off-duty city officers will work Friday’s game, not in an official capacity but as “off-duty security officers.”

Reid, the City Council member, said the request from Chester schools Superintendent Agnes Slayman to extend the city limit for police is for emergencies and extra-curriculars only, and city officers would act as a “back-up” to security guards.

Worthy said the request was for extra protection at alarm calls at school campuses, yet the timing of the meeting also included leaders’ safety concerns over Friday’s game.

State law allows for a three-mile law enforcement boundary extension for safety reasons, Worthy said.

The extension would not include any patrol or other law enforcement duties, Worthy said.

As of Thursday, it remained unclear how many security officers – whether security guards or police or both – will be at Friday’s game.

Any decision to have police at games is “strictly up to the school district,” said Tammie Newman, a spokeswoman for the S.C. High School League.

Efforts to reach school district officials, including newly hired chief of security Andre Williams, the former Chester Police Department chief who resigned to take the schools job, have been unsuccessful. Worthy said Williams, through his relationship with city officers as past chief, extended the opportunity to work security to city officers.

The Chester boundary applies only for Chester High – one of three county high schools. Great Falls High, which also plays at home Friday night, is inside the town limits of Great Falls, said Great Falls Police Department Maj. Scott Case. At least three Great Falls police officers will work the game, along with at least one of the school district’s security officers, Case said.

It remains unclear how the Chester County school district will handle security when Lewisville High School in Richburg plays at home Sept. 4.

This story was originally published August 20, 2015 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Schools want Chester boundaries extended for police coverage at football games."