Tight Budget Forces City To End Police Safety Classes In School

Madison’s police chief says a tight city budget is forcing his department to end safety classes that officers teach in schools. Mike Koval tells the Wisconsin State Journal he has a staff shortage in the patrol division — and he will not be able to spare four officers to teach the classes. About three-thousand fourth and fifth graders take the safety courses each year, where they learn about the risks of drugs, drinking, Internet hoaxes, and gang influences — and they also learn what to do if they’re bullied. A spokeswoman in the Madison School District says she hopes the safety program will come back some time.