The Brighton Area School District discussed the police liaison officer contract at its meeting Monday night, with talk of possibly going with the county sheriff’s dept. instead of city police.

In the past, the school district has contracted with the Brighton City Police Dept. for liaison officer services. And this time around, administration’s recommendation is that the contract be for three years instead of one, extending to 2020. But Board Trustee John Conely noted that technically, a city police officer only has jurisdiction in the city of Brighton, and this can potentially pose problems. Conely said if an issue develops at one of the schools in the townships, the city police dept. has to call the police dept. that has jurisdiction there and ask permission to enforce the law.

The Brighton Area Schools has two schools each in Green Oak, Genoa, and Brighton townships. Conely suggested that – since the board doesn’t have to take action on the liaison officer immediately – they contact Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy and discuss the possibility of contracting with the sheriff’s dept., which has jurisdiction all over the county.

However, Superintendent Greg Gray tells WHMI that although he’s not opposed to the idea of contracting with the sheriff’s dept., at this point his recommendation is to again go with the city police dept. The cost to the school district for the city police liaison officer for the coming year would be about $82,000. The matter will come up for more discussion, and possible action, at the July 10 meeting. (TT)