Police in schools and student arrest rates across the United States: Examining differences by race, ethnicity, and gender

Homer, Emily M.; Fisher, Benjamin W.

doi:10.1080/15388220.2019.1604377

Cited by 73 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The study found a statistically significant increase due to SRO placement in out‐of‐school suspensions for drug‐related crimes, but not for violent crimes. Homer and Fisher (2020) analyzed 92,620 schools included in data available from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. The study compared the association of police presence and total and group‐specific arrest rates in a cross‐sectional analysis that controlled for a variety of school characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

Gottfredson

Crosse

Tang

et al. 2020

Criminology & Public Policy

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We examined the effects of an increase in school resource officer (SRO) staffing on schools in a sample of 33 public schools that enhanced SRO staffing through funding from the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program and a matched sample of 72 schools that did not increase SRO staffing at the same time. In longitudinal analyses of monthly school-level administrative data, we compared the treatment and comparison schools on disciplinary offenses and actions. We found that increased SROs increased the number of drug-and weapon-related offenses and exclusionary disciplinary actions for treatment schools relative to comparison schools. These negative effects were more frequently found for students without special needs. Policy Implications: The study findings suggest that increasing SROs does not improve school safety and that by increasing exclusionary responses to school discipline incidents it increases the criminalization of school discipline. We recommend that educational decision-makers seeking to enhance school safety consider the many alternatives to programs that require regular police presence in schools.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

Gottfredson

Crosse

Tang

et al. 2020

Criminology & Public Policy

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“…These kinds of differences in role interpretation could have consequences in either direction with an SRO either ignoring warning signs of extreme student misbehavior or an SRO escalating minor misbehavior to a criminal charge. Prior research on SROs found it is more likely that SROs will exacerbate pervasive discipline disproportionality leading to more severe consequences for misbehavior of Black and Hispanic students (Homer & Fisher, 2020; Kupchik, 2010; Weisburst, 2019), making it even more important in more diverse school districts to have specific expectations for SROs’ involvement in discipline.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Related longitudinal research has found that receiving federal funding to place police in schools has led to higher suspension rates (Weisburst, 2019) and referrals to law enforcement (Owens, 2017), often for relatively subjective offenses such as disorderly conduct (Theriot, 2009). Moreover, some studies show evidence of racially disparate effects such that Black students might be disproportionate recipients of exclusionary discipline and arrest when SROs are placed in schools (Homer & Fisher, 2020; Weisburst, 2019). Qualitative research examining SROs’ effects on schools points to the erosion of school climate (Devine, 1996; Nolan, 2011), racially disparate patterns of surveilling students (Fisher et al, 2020; Shedd, 2015), and an increased focus on controlling student behavior rather than academic learning (Kupchik, 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Kindergarten Cop: A Case Study of How a Coalition Between School Districts and Law Enforcement Led to School Resource Officers in Elementary Schools

Viano

Curran

Fisher

2021

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

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Adopting school resource officers (SROs) is a popular response to school shootings. Using the advocacy coalition and multiple streams frameworks, we explore how school districts in one county formed a coalition with the Sheriff’s Department, adopting SROs in elementary schools following the Sandy Hook shooting. We describe how this coalition was bound together by shared beliefs on school safety and the goodness of law enforcement. The implementation activities of SROs related to the beliefs of the coalition, focusing on security and relationship building. The beliefs were not uniformly understood by SROs—many interpreted their role to include student discipline and managing behavior of students with disabilities. The findings show the utility of comparing policy adoption processes with implementation activities.

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“…Research on policing and youth of color outside of school (e.g., Durán, 2009; Gau & Brunson, 2015; Rios, 2011) finds frequent conflict between these two groups, with youth reporting feeling harassed and treated abusively. This may explain in part why, nationwide, schools with police have significantly higher arrest rates of Black students than White or Hispanic students (Homer & Fisher, 2020). Net-widening suggests that the presence of police in schools may result in more students coming into contact with law enforcement and thereby having their behaviors interpreted as a violation of a rule.…”

Section: Sros Student Discipline and Perceptions Of Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Interactions With School Resource Officers Predict Students’ Likelihood of Being Disciplined and Feelings of Safety? Mixed-Methods Evidence From Two School Districts

Curran

Viano

Kupchik

et al. 2021

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

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School resource officers (SROs) are common in schools, yet consequences of their presence are poorly understood. This study leveraged mixed-methods data from student surveys and group interviews across 25 schools to examine how the frequency of interactions and trust/comfort between students and SROs relate to disciplinary outcomes and feelings of safety. We found no evidence that, in this context, more frequent interactions or differing trust/comfort with SROs increased disciplinary consequences, perhaps because, as students report, SROs tended to not engage in formal discipline. We found that, although SROs were seen as increasing safety, interactions with SROs may have heightened students’ sense of danger, potentially mitigating any benefit to students’ overall feelings of safety. Implications for use of SROs are discussed.

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Police in schools and student arrest rates across the United States: Examining differences by race, ethnicity, and gender

Cited by 73 publications

References 36 publications

Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

Effects of school resource officers on school crime and responses to school crime

Kindergarten Cop: A Case Study of How a Coalition Between School Districts and Law Enforcement Led to School Resource Officers in Elementary Schools

Do Interactions With School Resource Officers Predict Students’ Likelihood of Being Disciplined and Feelings of Safety? Mixed-Methods Evidence From Two School Districts

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