Making Schools Safer and/or Escalating Disciplinary Response: A Study of Police Officers in North Carolina Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 016237372110064
Author(s):  
Lucy C. Sorensen ◽  
Yinzhi Shen ◽  
Shawn D. Bushway
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
School Resource Officers ◽  
Resource Officers ◽  
School Suspensions ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Police In Schools

The “defund the police” movement has recently called for the removal of police—or school resource officers (SROs)—from schools. This call is driven by concerns that SROs may heighten student contact with criminal justice or lead to disproportionately harsh disciplinary consequences. This study uses linked disciplinary, academic, juvenile justice, and adult conviction data from North Carolina to estimate the effects of middle school SROs on a variety of student outcomes. Our findings indicate that SROs not only decrease the incidence of serious violence but also increase the use of out-of-school suspensions, transfers, expulsions, and police referrals. This study provides new insights into the effects of police in schools and implies new directions for policies, training, and accountability.

Do School Resource Officers Really Refer Juveniles to the Juvenile Justice System for Less Serious Offenses?

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. May ◽  
Raymond Barranco ◽  
Ethan Stokes ◽  
Angela A. Robertson ◽  
Stacy H. Haynes
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
School Resource Officers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Large Contribution ◽  
Resource Officers ◽  
Police In Schools ◽  
School Resource

In this article, we use 3 years of youth court data from a southeastern state to examine whether referrals that originated from school resource officers (SROs) involve greater proportions of less serious offenses than referrals from other sources. Referrals from SROs during the 3-year period were similar to referrals by law enforcement outside of school for status and serious offenses. SROs were less likely than law enforcement officers outside of school to refer juveniles for minor offenses during the 3-year period. Our findings suggest that schools, not solely police in schools, make a large contribution to the number of juveniles referred to the juvenile justice system for less serious offenses. Implications for policy and future research are also discussed.

Including School Resource Officers in school-based crisis intervention: Strengthening student support

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard K. James ◽  
Joan Logan ◽  
Scott A. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Intervention ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
School Resource Officers ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Resource Officers ◽  
Crisis Prevention ◽  
School Based ◽  
Support Students ◽  
School Resource

This article discusses the importance of trained police officers, School Resource Officers (SROs), participating in school-based crisis response efforts. These efforts, mostly preventative in nature, mitigate and de-escalate trauma for students exposed to a wide variety of challenging situations. Scenarios are presented with dialogue between students and SRO, offering insights into how SROs support students’ emotional needs. The article demonstrates how trained SROs’ service complements school-based crisis prevention and intervention efforts.

Outliers in American juvenile justice: the need for statutory reform in North Carolina and New York

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-161
Author(s):  
Frank Tedeschi ◽  
Elizabeth Ford
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
New York ◽  
North Carolina ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Criminal Justice Systems ◽  
History Of

Abstract There is a well-established and growing body of evidence from research that adolescents who commit crimes differ in many regards from their adult counterparts and are more susceptible to the negative effects of adjudication and incarceration in adult criminal justice systems. The age of criminal court jurisdiction in the United States has varied throughout history; yet, there are only two remaining states, New York and North Carolina, that continue to automatically charge 16 year olds as adults. This review traces the statutory history of juvenile justice in these two states with an emphasis on political and social factors that have contributed to their outlier status related to the age of criminal court jurisdiction. The neurobiological, psychological, and developmental aspects of the adolescent brain and personality, and how those issues relate both to a greater likelihood of rehabilitation in appropriate settings and to greater vulnerability in adult correctional facilities, are also reviewed. The importance of raising the age in New York and North Carolina not only lies in protecting incarcerated youths but also in preventing the associated stigma following release. Mental health practitioners are vital to the process of local and national juvenile justice reform. They can serve as experts on and advocates for appropriate mental health care and as experts on the adverse effects of the adult criminal justice system on adolescents.

The Legal Implications of School Resource Officers in Public Schools

2001 ◽  
Vol 85 (621) ◽  
pp. 76-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuck Maranzano
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Positive Change ◽  
Student Rights ◽  
School Resource Officers ◽  
Legal Principles ◽  
Resource Officers ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Legal Implications ◽  
School Resource

The movement to include police officers in education settings may be complicated by unresolved legal principles. Describes issues regarding student rights and urges action to effect positive change in school settings.

The Roles of Police Officers in Schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deanna N. Devlin ◽  
Denise C. Gottfredson
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Prevention Strategy ◽  
School Resource Officers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
School Crime ◽  
Longitudinal Sample ◽  
Resource Officers ◽  
School Survey

Deploying police officers, known as school resource officers (SROs), in schools is a popular school crime prevention strategy. This study tested whether specific SRO roles, rather than the presence or absence of SROs, influenced school crime and reporting of crimes to law enforcement differently. Specifically, schools with officers serving a law enforcement only role as well as those with officers who also teach and/or mentor (“mixed SROs”), were compared with schools without officers. The study used a longitudinal sample ( N = 480) from the School Survey on Crime and Safety for the years 2004, 2006, and 2008. Results suggest that the level of crime recording and reporting generally increased with SRO presence. Further, schools with law enforcement only SROs recorded more crimes than non-SRO schools, and contrary to hypotheses, schools with mixed SROs reported more crimes to law enforcement. Future research should expand on the typology of SROs used in this study.

School Resource (Police) Officers in Schools

2022 ◽  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Mallett
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
School Shootings ◽  
School Resource Officers ◽  
Resource Officers ◽  
Disorderly Conduct ◽  
School Resource

Having police officers in schools (school resource officers – SROs) is controversial with a growing debate as their presence has proliferated nationally over the past 20 years. A majority of high schools and middle schools today have police on campus providing a variety of services, though primarily law enforcement. While the intent is to provide improved school safety and protection to students, unexpectedly this has not been the outcome for many school campuses when reviewing most criminal activity and school shootings. While the presence of SROs is complicated, the unintended impact has harmed more students than anticipated by criminalizing misbehaviors and disorderly conduct, making the learning environment less conducive by negatively changing school climates and disproportionately impacting many already at-risk young people.

Blurred and Confused: The Paradox of Police in Schools

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea N Montes ◽  
Daniel P Mears ◽  
Nicole L Collier ◽  
George B Pesta ◽  
Sonja E Siennick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
School Safety ◽  
School Discipline ◽  
Law Enforcement Officers ◽  
School Environments ◽  
Safe School ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Police In Schools

Abstract The get-tough era in juvenile justice ushered in significant changes to how schools respond to delinquency. One of the most visible changes has been the increasing presence of police officers who work in and patrol schools. The purpose of this article is to argue that this practice has blurred the boundaries between schools and police and, in turn, has created confusion about the roles of educators in safety efforts and of officers in education efforts, respectively. We draw on prior literature about school safety, school discipline, and law enforcement officers in school environments to describe this confusion and its consequences. This article contributes to literature aimed at understanding the changing landscape of policing and school safety and the challenges as well as opportunities facing the police and schools in educating youth, responding to misbehaviour, and maintaining safe school environments.

Out of the Picture: Latinx and White Male Youths’ Facial Features Predict Their Juvenile Justice System Processing Outcomes

2021 ◽  
pp. 001112872199934
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Chen ◽  
Adam D. Fine ◽  
Jasmine B. Norman ◽  
Paul J. Frick ◽  
Elizabeth Cauffman
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Juvenile Justice System ◽  
White Male ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Legal Decisions ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
First Time ◽  
To Receive

Adults’ facial characteristics predict whether and how severely they are sentenced in the adult criminal justice system. We investigate whether characteristics of White and Latinx male youths’ faces predict the severity of their processing in the juvenile justice system. Among a sample of first-time offenders, despite no differences in the severity of their offenses, youth who were perceived by naïve observers as more dominant, less trustworthy, less healthy, and having darker skin were more likely to receive harsher sanctions. Thus, extralegal factors like appearance may bias legal decisions that place some youth at increased risk for more restrictive sanctioning. Our findings highlight the need for structured approaches to juvenile processing decisions that take youths’ appearance out of the picture.

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