The Port Arthur Independent School District will once again have its own police department.

Trustees unanimously approved the establishment of a PAISD Police Department and authorized the superintendent to recommend a chief to the board on Tuesday.

The district formed its own police force back in 2000 and it eventually transitioned to the Absent Student Assistance Project with Jefferson County Precinct 8 Constables Office. Later the Precinct 2 Constables Office was added as were Port Arthur Police Department officers. Superintendent Mark Porterie said a lot has changed with the ASAP Program through the years.

Porterie said he wants the students to be respectful of law enforcement and see them not just as a negative aspect but for help if needed.

Board secretary Robert Reid asked Porterie for details about the police department saying he agrees that the safety of the students and staff are important, but he is worried about the district’s budget constraints going into the 2019-2020 school year.

“I get concerned about what I feel is going to be an extra — quite a bit extra — amount of funding from what we’ve done in the past simply because the employees we hire for the police department, we’re paying their salaries, we’re paying their health insurance, they’re getting the full benefit package which they should received as employees of Port Arthur Independent School District,” Reid said. “We’re also paying for everything they need in the formation of their own police department; I think you understand the details.

That concerns me compared to what other alternatives we have that would ensure the safety of our students and employees in all buildings in the school district. And so as we fund this police department and everything it entails, I wonder if something else may give in what we fund for the school district. And keep mind I don’t ever want to compromise the safety of our students.”

Porterie said there are nine slots for police department employment and the extra slot would be for the chief. He said the only difference is that the district paid Jefferson County for use of the officers and now it would be through the district.

He said the cost would not be much more than what they are paying now with ASAP but did not say what the cost is.

The district is looking to hire a police chief as soon as possible, Porterie said, who will create the foundation for the department and work with the officers.

 

See also: Bates hired to curb absences in Port Arthur ISD