Law enforcement in schools: Resource or barrier?

ABSTRACT

With increased media coverage of school violence, communities and schools have hired school resource officers (SROs) in an attempt to reduce the violence. These SROs often have a variety of duties and training depending on a variety of factors both related and unrelated to school crime and violence prevention. These may include typical school staff duties such as mentoring but frequently are more similar to those of law enforcement personnel, such as patrolling. In this article, we review the literature on SROs, identifying their common roles as well as the benefits and drawbacks to their presence in public schools in the United States. The literature suggests that there is a complicated relationship between SROs and crime and violence prevention in schools, including different outcomes for different populations of students. Based on our review of the literature, we recommend changes regarding the use of SROs in public schools for policy makers, school practitioners, and researchers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional Resources for Classroom Use

1. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (n.d.). Establish discipline policies that promote SEL. https://schoolguide.casel.org/focus-area-3/school/establish-discipline-policies-that-promote-sel/

This website for school leaders and teachers provides research, tools, and practices to promote students’ social and emotional learning in schools. The website also describes the negative effects of punitive and exclusionary discipline and thus provides alternatives.

2. National Association of School Psychologists (n.d.). School violence prevention. https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/school-violence-prevention

This website, written for school administrators, and teachers provides 19 tips for promoting school safety. The site also includes other resources related to school safety and crises, such as research summaries on gun violence and tips for teachers on how to talk to children after a crisis.

3. U.S. Department of Education. (2016). Safe School-based Enforcement through Collaboration, Understanding, and Respect (SECURe) local implementation rubric. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/files/sro-local-implementation-rubric.pdf

Created for local law enforcement agencies and school administrators, this rubric outlines five steps for implementing SROs within schools. The rubric includes a checklist for new SRO implementation along with checklists for improving existing relationships between schools and local law enforcement.