Police in schools: The complicated impact on students, school environments, and the juvenile courts

Abstract

Having police officers in schools (school resource officers - SROs) is controversial with a growing debate as their presence has proliferated nationally over the past twenty years. A majority of high schools and middle schools today have police on campus providing a variety of services, though primarily law enforcement. While the intent is to provide improved school safety and protection to students, unexpectedly this has not been the outcome for many school campuses when reviewing most criminal activity or, tragically, school shootings. While the presence of SROs is complicated, the unintended impact has harmed more students than ever anticipated by criminalizing misbehaviors and disorderly conduct, making the learning environment less conducive by negatively changing school climates, and disproportionately impacting many already at-risk young people – those of color, those with disabilities, and those who identify as LGBTQ. While recent Black Lives Matter movement advocacy has removed SROs from a small number of school districts across the country, additional change looks to be quite difficult even though ongoing research continues to find disparate and unexpected negative student, school, and justice system pathway outcomes, while not making schools safer. This paper reviews this empirical, practice, and policy conundrum, and the impact on the juvenile courts.