School Shootings, Locked-Down Campuses, and Fear

This chapter is first focused on how schools have become “locked-down” campuses because of the fear of school shootings and the impact of zero tolerance crime and student control policies that greatly expanded the use of school police (resource) officers and other related security measures. Next is a review of newer school management approaches using rehabilitative paradigms – to see how they impact students, school climate, and the campus environment. There are a significant number of approaches using evidence-based trauma-informed care and mental health programming (for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression problems) that can be used. Continuing to move toward rehabilitative campus approaches along with these primary, secondary, and tertiary trauma and mental health supports could help address today's “culture of fear” that is being increasingly recognized to impact many students in our schools.

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 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.

School Police Reform: A Public Health Imperative

Out of the twin pandemics currently gripping the United States¬—deaths of unarmed Black victims at the hands of police and racialized health inequities resulting from COVID-19—an antiracist health equity agenda has emerged that identifies racism as a public health crisis. Likewise, calls for reform of school policing by those advocating for civil rights, racial justice, and Black Lives Matter have simultaneously intensified. Yet each remains siloed, despite the natural connection and implicit overlap between these separate movements and debates. Indeed, there are documented negative health effects of school policing for Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) youth. But these have gone largely ignored or underemphasized by the movement to reform school police. Similarly, the racial health equity movement has overlooked race-conscious health equity reforms to school policing. This Article aims to fill the gap by connecting these distinct movements and debates and articulating a public-health-based response to school policing.

Coping Power in the City: Promoting Coping in African American Male Students

This article describes efforts to adapt an adolescent version of the Coping Power program, called Coping Power in the City, for use with high school students attending an urban school district with high concentrations of students exposed to community violence and challenges related to elevated tensions between youth and police. The goal of this group-based preventive intervention is to provide a comprehensive, school-based approach to stem rates of violence, discipline problems, and related mental health concerns for adolescents. A novel feature is the integration of a school police component into the intervention model with concurrent supports for students, parents, and teachers to supplement school counseling efforts. We present an overview of the program and a rationale for its adaptation to meet the needs of African American males in urban high schools. We summarize baseline data for 514 ninth graders (46% African American males) across 10 urban high schools participating in a randomized controlled trial. We also address lessons learned and implications for school-based counseling practices for African American male students and engagement of school police officers in urban high schools.

Racial and ethnic disparities in youth perceptions of police in the community and school: considering the effects of multilevel factors

PurposeRecent publicized incidents involving police and youth, particularly minorities, may undermine attitudes toward police. This research examines the effect of race/ethnicity on youth attitudes toward police in two contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilizes survey data from 17,000 youth in California aggregated with data on poverty and crime. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is used to examine the effects of individual and structural factors on perceptions of the police in the community and in school.FindingsRace/ethnicity is related to perceptions of police in both contexts even after accounting for structural factors, with Blacks and Hispanics having less positive perceptions than Whites and Asians. Differences in perceptions between racial/ethnic groups were larger for police in the community than school police. Structural factors were associated with perceptions of police in the community but not at school.Originality/valueThis study differs from much of the previous literature examining race and attitudes toward police, which has largely focused on adults. The current study examines youth attitudes toward the police in two separate contexts and considers the influence of structural factors.

The Effects of School Police Officers on Victimization, Delinquency, and Fear of Crime: Focusing on Korean Youth

As a response to rising concerns about school violence, the Korean National Police Agency began recruiting specialized police officers, called Korean School Police Officers (KSPOs), in hopes that they would reduce in school behavioral and delinquency problems. The current study provides insight into the effects of crime prevention activities in Korean schools, using the 2014 Korean Youth Victimization Survey to advance the knowledge about the role of the KSPOs and their potential impact on delinquency reduction. Results indicate that the presence of KSPOs did not have any significant association with criminal victimization or fear of victimization. In some cases, the presence of KSPOs is associated with higher property crime by students. Implications of these findings for understanding KSPOs and their roles in preventing school crime and improving school environments are discussed. In addition, we discuss how lessons learned from the U.S. may influence future advancements in KSPO approaches and vice versa.