Loading…

Reconsidering Police in Schools

In this article on School Police Officers (SPOs), we showcase the link between SPOs and exacerbated racial disparities in justice involvement and youth being driven deeper into criminal justice systems. Yet SPOs have been linked with increased arrests for non-criminal, youthful behavior, fueling the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contexts (Berkeley, Calif.) Calif.), 2021-11, Vol.20 (4), p.28-33
Main Authors: King, Ryan, Schindler, Marc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this article on School Police Officers (SPOs), we showcase the link between SPOs and exacerbated racial disparities in justice involvement and youth being driven deeper into criminal justice systems. Yet SPOs have been linked with increased arrests for non-criminal, youthful behavior, fueling the school-to-prison pipeline. It is important to note that the presence of SPOs is notably higher in schools with higher percentages of Black or Latino youth. Singling out the concerning and ever-widening reach of the justice system, SPOs are frequently given authority to intervene when non-criminal school rules are broken. By engaging mostly in law enforcement tactics, such as arrests, rather than education and mentorship programs that can act as preventative measures to rule-breaking at school, SPO presence often results in overall harsher punishments and increased arrests for youth non-criminal behavior. These policing practices “disproportionately expose children of color to the justice system at a young age [and] are correlated with a higher likelihood of incarceration as an adult”. Given the long term consequences associated with a single arrest—increased likelihood of dropping out and long-term consequences in obtaining adequate employment—we present policy recommendations to help rethink investments toward the types of approaches that are more likely to make schools safe and away from SPO involvement. These include using counselors, social workers and teachers, and alternative and restorative justice practices to address problematic behavior in schools.
ISSN:1536-5042
1537-6052
DOI:10.1177/15365042211058122