The Roles of School-Based Law Enforcement Officers and How These Roles Are Established

Abstract

Recently, considerable attention has been directed to violence and misbehavior in U.S. schools. In turn, schools have looked for solutions to address such concerns, one of which is the use of law enforcement officers. The aim of this research is to explore how law enforcement officers define their actual roles, as well as their perceived roles in an educational setting. Also, this study examines the process for establishing these roles within the school environment. A total of 26 law enforcement officers were contacted by phone and participated in an in-depth interview. Each interview was transcribed into NVivo, and subsequently coded to identify general themes and common phrases. The findings suggest that officers working in the school environment are taking on many roles, some of which they do not consider appropriate. In addition, who establishes these roles varies considerably. The findings are discussed in terms of their deviation from prior literature as well as needed future research endeavors.

School police officers' roles: The influence of social, developmental and historical contexts

“…For instance, they may be particularly involved in implementing the mission of PSPD or they may be especially disgruntled with the department. These limitations notwithstanding, our general findings about the multifaceted nature of PSPO roles falls in line with studies conducted in the Midwest ( Rhodes, 2017 ) and Texas ( McKenna et al, 2016 ). In addition, our findings align with an analysis of the national data from the Common Core of Data ( Coon & Travis, 2012 ) assessing the perceptions of both chiefs of police and principals of school police officers' roles.…”

“…The second type involves school police officers who are employed by an independent school district police department. These school police departments are under the direct control of the school district and are accountable to the district superintendent, Board of Trustees, and/or their designees ( McKenna, Martinez-Prather, & Bowman, 2016 ). Some school districts employ both SROs and school police officers, suggesting that the two types of law enforcement are not mutually exclusive.…”

“…Irrespective of the type of law enforcement personnel, these studies show that school officers engage in a wider range of roles than the triad model of law enforcer-teacher-counselor. Using telephone interviews with 26 officers primarily from rural Texas, Mckenna et al (2016) documented that officers also serve as surrogate parents and social workers, engaging in “nurturing behaviors that include emotional support” in addition to making “home visits and encouraging parental involvement” (p. 435).…”

Data-Driven Recommendations for Promoting Collaboration Among School Security Personnel and School Social Workers in the United States

“…SBLEs share similar responsibilities with SROs in that they aim to maintain safety while promoting a secure environment conducive to learning. The use of the term "SRO" is sometimes used interchangeably with "SBLE", but the difference between these two professionals is that SBLE officers are employed by the school district through a school-based law enforcement department (McKenna, Martinez-Prather., & Bowman, 2014). Thus, SBLEs are directly employed by the school district.…”

“Your Pants Won’t Save You”

“…Second, despite efforts to accommodate marginalized student populations, education personnel are often ill-prepared to help students navigate and reconcile their feelings of oppression (Abrams & Moio, 2009;Johnston-Goodstar & VeLure Roholt, 2017). Finally, the increasing presence of School Resource Officers has not been matched by efforts to ensure their preparedness to work in educational environments (Kupchik, 2016;McKenna, Martinez-Prather, & Bowman, 2016).…”