Dr. Camacho releases statement regarding incident with police at Coquillard Elementary School

SOUTH BEND. Ind. -- Dr. Cheryl Camacho released a statement on Saturday regarding an incident that happened between herself and Police at Coquillard Elementary School in South Bend.

You can find our article on the original incident here.

Dr. Camacho says the South Bend Empowerment Zone is "committed to shaping the student experience in our schools” however, the organization has “a responsibility to define the guardrails of any adult interaction and contact with our students, including police non-emergency interaction and contact”

Dr. Camacho states “Over the past two school years, we have welcomed police officers and other first responders into our schools for various luncheons to honor them, to student and family welcome back celebrations, and for other celebratory events where expectations were clear on both sides. We are not opposed to police operating in our schools, but we do need to ensure that strong protocols and operational expectations are in place.”

Dr. Camacho says the organization does “support the building of bridges” and the South Bend Empowerment Zone has had one meeting with the South Bend Police Department and stated in “an emergency situation we absolutely want, welcome, and expect the police to help us.”

Dr. Camacho says the organization does “stand ready to have additional conversations to ensure a shared and aligned vision for non-emergency interaction and contact between the police, students, and staff”.

A a Facebook post with Dr. Camacho's statement in it can be found here.

An article on a statement issued by the South Bend Fraternal Order of Police can be found here.

Update: quotes fixed