Safer Schools With the Return of Police

In the aftermath of the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, among the proposals for reform was removal from schools of police, often referred to as “school resource officers” (SROs).

Several reasons were offered as many school jurisdictions took this step. Some people thought that the whole concept of having police in schools was misguided—that having police officers present was out of keeping with the overall atmosphere of an institution dedicated to teaching, learning, and social development. Instead, their presence was regarded as creating a culture of fear so that students would feel less safe.

There were legal issues that required clarifying student rights and what powers police officers would have in a school setting. A third objection relied on statistics showing that, among arrests made, there was an overrepresentation of Black students. Yet another objection was that by arresting students, schools feed a “pipeline from school to prison.”

Some school systems discovered that getting rid of SROs turned out to be unwise. The Washington Post (4/4/22) cited “a run of safety incidents” and “a rise in violent incidents” and attributed them to students struggling “to readjust to being in classrooms after … the pandemic.”

There long have been violent incidents in school, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. (One might question whether invoking the pandemic as yet another reason or excuse is helpful or even accurate.)

There are “criminals” in many schools. They are not called that. Because of their age, they may be assessed as “conduct-disordered” students. Just one of these boys or girls can disrupt learning for an entire classroom. Fear stalks the halls of some schools where students are shaken down for lunch money, intimidated in hallways, and bullied throughout the day. Learning is unlikely to occur under such conditions.

If a student is basically a cooperative and interdependent member of the school community, there is absolutely nothing for him to fear from school resource officers who may help insulate and protect him from predators. In fact, the overwhelming number of boys and girls have little or no contact with SROs.

The portrayal of SROs as agents of the state is overdrawn. The Post characterized them as “trained to build relationships with students and handle issues that arise in schools.” Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration emphasized that officers are “not on campus to arrest students but to create a rapport so they can diffuse tension.”

Now that funding for school resource officers is being restored in some school systems, it would be a good idea to examine the flawed objections that led to their earlier removal. School must be perceived by students as a safe place, perhaps the only one in their lives. Teachers who feel under threat are not able to give their best.

Having SROS in schools in the past did not eliminate crime. There still were thousands of assaults, acts of vandalism, and bullying. One might wonder why SROs were not more effective. To understand this, it is necessary to have a detailed understanding of the thinking patterns that give rise to crime.

Some people are deterred from criminal conduct when they know security measures are present. Others disregard even those deterrents. For some offenders, if they see their path blocked, they will refrain from the immediate intended conduct and await a better opportunity.

Others will commit crimes right under the noses of authorities because they find intense excitement in doing so. SROs can focus on students who are known to create chaos and pose a threat. Deterrence does work in many instances.

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Obviously, the legal rights of students and the scope of power of SROs must be determined. The fact that a few officers may overstep their authority does not invalidate the entire SRO program.

If it is true that a “disproportionate” number of Black boys and girls are arrested, it is important to investigate why. Is it rooted in extensive police racial bias? Or are Black students actually creating a disproportionate amount of crime? If so, this needs to be looked at.

The assertion that police presence in schools feeds a “pipeline” to prison is absurd. There may be such a pipeline, but an individual who ends up in it does so because of the choices he has made. Most students abide by the rules, and their closest contact with a prison is on a television show or in a film.

Safety must come first. Students and teachers deserve to have safe learning environments. School resource officers have a lot to contribute to achieving this basic and essential objective.