Police in Schools
What do we know?
Policing in schools has become an increasingly important topic in regards to discipline and student pushout.
Research continues to tell us that police may be causing damage students, school climate, and overall outcomes.
What does the research tell us?
From the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, in their 2022 Expulsions and Suspensions report, directly names the impact of police in disciplinary decisions.
“Research demonstrates that receiving a referral to law enforcement increases a student’s likelihood that a student is held back a grade level, drops out, enters the criminal justice system, and experiences long term adverse health impacts”
“During the 2019 school year in Minnesota, 11% of enrolled students were Black, and 1.6% were American Indian. However, these students respectively represented 18% and 5% of students referred to law enforcement through the school discipline process”
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights names states that there should be a continued effort to reduce the use of school resource officers when making disciplinary decisions to reduce disparities.
The general mental health and wellbeing of Black students are directly affected by the presence of police in every day life. In this study: Police Exposures and the Health and Well-being of Black Youth in the US: A Systematic Review, the authors unpack the adverse health effects of police amongst Black Youth.
“16 studies with 19,493 participants were demonstrated an association between police exposure and adverse mental health, sexual risk behaviors, and substance use.”
“An additional 13 qualitative studies including 461 participants provided additional health outcomes, such as fear for life or hopelessness”
The mental wellbeing of Black students in school directly is tied to their academic outcomes. Furthering police presence in schools has a linked effect to decreasing the mental health of our Black youth.
The Safe Schools, Thriving Students report put out by the Learning Policy Institute, breaks down the adverse effects of Student Resource Officers in schools.
The presence of police increased the number of suspensions, expulsions, and police referrals that directly tie to the school to prison pipeline, and negative academic outcomes for students
“Suspension is linked to lower academic achievement and decreased rates of high school graduation and college enrollment. Further, these effects are found to be consistently and significantly larger for Black students”
“This suggests that the use of school resource officers has the potential to expand gaps in educational opportunity and attainment.”