Case Studies of 19 School Resource Officer (SRO) Programs

Finn, Peter; McDevitt, Jack; Lassiter, William; Shively, Michael; Rich, Thomas A.

doi:10.1037/e510372006-001

Cited by 55 publications

(74 citation statements)

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“…One potentially confounding variable is that a zero-tolerance policy for fighting was implemented in the same year as the SRO, thereby potentially obfuscating any effect that could be attributed solely to the SRO. In fact, Finn et al (2005a) reported that the SRO and the zero-tolerance policy were mutually reinforcing and largely went hand-in-hand. The decrease in suspensions for fighting might also be attributable to regression to the mean; the SROs and zero-tolerance policies were implemented largely as a reaction to the rampant fighting in schools, suggesting that the amount of fighting may have decreased regardless of the changes.…”

Section: Description Of Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large Established Site 3 is situated in a county with a population of roughly 100,000 in the South. Finn et al (2005a) collected data on suspensions for fighting in one high school within this site over a 7-year span from 1994-1995 to 2000-2001, including 1 year of data before SRO implementation and 6 years of data after SRO implementation. There were 72 suspensions for fighting in 1994-1995-the year before SRO implementation; that number decreased to 48 when an SRO was implemented in the school in 1995-1996, and then declined even further in subsequent years to 32, 29, 28, 24, and 27 suspensions for fighting per year (although the authors did not conduct any formal significance tests).…”

Section: Description Of Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second site from the Finn et al (2005a) report eligible for inclusion-Large New Site 2-is in a county of 400,000 primarily White urban-dwelling people in the Midwest. Four waves of data were available, including 1 year before SRO implementation (1999) and 3 years after (2000)(2001)(2002).…”

Section: Finn Et Al (2005a): Large New Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…SROs were implemented in the district's two middle schools and one high school in 1999-2000. Finn et al (2005a) collected six waves of data on arrests at school for the district's high school, including two waves before SRO implementation and four waves after. In the 2 years before SRO implementation, there were 17 and 28 arrests.…”

Section: Finn Et Al (2005a): Large New Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Finn et al (2005a) found that SROs and zero-tolerance policies functioned as mutually reinforcing agents of discipline within one school district. Similarly, in an ethnography of school discipline practices and processes, including the involvement of SROs, Kupchik (2010) found that SROs have become an important part of school discipline processes, and as a result of this involvement the severity of punishments given has increased.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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School Resource Officers and Exclusionary Discipline in U.S. High Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

2015

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Over the past few decades, schools in the U.S. have increasingly relied on school resource officers (SROs) to provide safety and order within school settings. In spite of the intuitive appeal that SROs might offer for making schools safer, critics suggest that there may be unintended negative consequences to this trend, including an increase in exclusionary discipline (i.e., suspensions and expulsions) of students in schools with SROs. This study presents a synthesis of the existing quasi-experimental literature examining the relationship between the presence of SROs and exclusionary discipline in U.S. high schools. Following a systematic literature search, random effects meta-analysis was used to summarize ten effect sizes from seven reports. One meta-analytic model with seven effect sizes achieved statistical significance, yielding a mean rate ratio of 1.21, 95 % CI (1.04, 1.40), indicating that the presence of SROs in high schools was associated with higher rates of exclusionary discipline. A second metaanalytic model with three effect sizes indicated no statistically significant relationship between SRO presence and rates of exclusionary discipline [rate ratio = 1.54, 95 % CI (0.78, 3.06)]. There were high levels of heterogeneity in both models, indicating that unmeasured moderating variables would likely explain some of the variance. Implications for research are discussed.

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Section: Description Of Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Description Of Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Finn Et Al (2005a): Large New Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Finn Et Al (2005a): Large New Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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School Resource Officers and Exclusionary Discipline in U.S. High Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

2015

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Policing Education: An Empirical Review of the Challenges and Impact of the Work of School Police Officers

Javdani

2019

American J of Comm Psychol

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Public concerns regarding school safety and zero-tolerance education policies have contributed to the growth of a workforce of school police, or frontline school safety professionals who are typically placed in schools with the authority to arrest students (Brown, 2006). Thus, school police represent a workforce positioned at the nexus of multiple systems, including education and juvenile justice, and whose work likely brings them into contact with underserved youth and families. Despite national representation of this growing workforce (e.g., National Association of School Resource Officers), little is known about the responsibilities, roles, training, and influence of school police. This manuscript aims to (a) advance understanding of the school police workforce, including in relation to school police training, needs, roles, and influence, through a systematic review of scholarship in the social sciences, with a focus on peer-reviewed research in education, psychology, social work, criminology, and juvenile justice; and (b) generate empirically supported recommendations integrating key conclusions that pertain specifically to targeting the challenges faced by the school police workforce and identifying the best strategies to enhance safety-related goals while mitigating disproportionate legal and educational consequences for underserved youth and families.

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School‐based law enforcement strategies to reduce crime, increase perceptions of safety, and improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools: A systematic review

Fisher,

Petrosino,

Sutherland

et al. 2023

Campbell Systematic Reviews

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BackgroundSchool‐based law enforcement (SBLE) has become a common intervention. Although SBLE is meant to make schools safer, critics suggest it may not accomplish this purpose, and may have unintended negative consequences such as increasing students’ exclusionary discipline or contact with the criminal justice system. There may also be secondary effects related to perceptions of the school or student learning.ObjectivesThe purpose of this review is to synthesize the literature evaluating the use of SBLE, including outcomes related to (a) crime and behavior problems; (b) perceptions of safety; and (c) learning.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search to identify studies that examined outcomes associated with SBLE use. Eligible studies used experimental or quasi‐experimental designs; included samples of students, teachers/staff, schools, or school districts; reported on a policing strategy focused on crime prevention or school safety that did not involve officers teaching a curriculum; included a measure that reflects crime and behavior problems, perceptions of safety, or learning; and were in a primary or secondary school. Following a multi‐stage screening process to identify studies eligible for inclusion, we estimated a series of meta‐analytic models with robust variance estimation to calculate weighted mean effect sizes for each of three main categories of outcomes and commonly occurring subsets of these categories. We examined heterogeneity in these estimates across features of the primary studies’ design.ResultsThe search and screening process yielded 1002 effect sizes from 32 reports. There were no true experiments, and the quasi‐experiments ranged from strictly correlational to permitting stronger causal inferences. SBLE use was associated with greater crime and behavior problems in studies that used schools as the unit of analysis. Within this category, SBLE use was associated with increased exclusionary discipline among studies that used both schools (g = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.02, 0.27]) and students (g = 0.003, 95% CI [0.002, 0.003]) as the unit of analysis. SBLE use was not associated with any measures of crime or violence in schools. SBLE use was associated with greater feelings of safety among studies that used schools as the unit of analysis (g = 0.18, 95% CI [0.13, 0.24]), although this estimate was based on only seven effect sizes from two correlational studies. All the other models, including those examining learning outcomes, yielded null results. None of the moderators tested showed meaningful relationships, indicating the findings were consistent across a variety of study design features.Authors’ ConclusionsThis study's findings provide no evidence that there is a safety‐promoting component of SBLE, and support the criticism that SBLE criminalizes students and schools. Although we found no evidence of differences across methodological features, risk of bias in the primary studies limits our confidence in making causal inferences. To the extent that the findings are causal, schools that invest in strategies to improve safety will likely benefit from divesting from SBLE and instead investing in evidence‐based strategies for enhancing school safety. Schools that continue to use SBLE should ensure that their model has no harmful effects and is providing safety benefits.

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Case Studies of 19 School Resource Officer (SRO) Programs

Cited by 55 publications

References 0 publications

School Resource Officers and Exclusionary Discipline in U.S. High Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

School Resource Officers and Exclusionary Discipline in U.S. High Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Policing Education: An Empirical Review of the Challenges and Impact of the Work of School Police Officers

School‐based law enforcement strategies to reduce crime, increase perceptions of safety, and improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools: A systematic review

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