CPS Board President Dan French testified on Friday, June 11, at the legislative hearing on bills regarding School Resource Officers, also known as cops in schools. Here is his testimony:
Testimony in Support of H648, S286, and H6594
My name is Dan French and I am president of the board of the nonprofit Citizens for Public Schools. I am testifying in favor of H648 and S286, as well as H694. Multiple studies have shown that the presence of school police or SROs in schools increases rates of school arrests, suspensions, and expulsions.[i] For example, one meta-analysis of multiple studies found that the presence of SROs resulted in a greater than 20% increase in suspensions and exclusions.[ii] A study by Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) and Strategies for Youth found that “Schools with police reported 3.5 times as many arrests as schools without police.”[iii]
And there are additional concerns related to this data. First, increases in school arrests are often akin to criminalizing adolescent conduct and misbehavior. “Disrupting school” and “disorderly conduct” are two of the more common reasons cited for school arrests. While both terms are broad and open to interpretation, most behavior which falls under these categories are not felonious or worthy of arrest. As noted by Research for Action, “Law enforcement has increasingly been involved in student conduct issues that historically were resolved by school administrators.”[iv]
Second, school arrests are laced with racial bias. A disproportionate number of Black and Latinx students, as well as students with disabilities, are arrested, suspended, or expelled than White, non-disabled students. As cited by CJJ, in 2015-2016 Black and Latinx students represented 27% of all Massachusetts students, but 64% of all arrests.[v] Studies have found that Black and Latinx students are disproportionately suspended and arrested more than White students who commit the same offense.[vi]
Third, the impact of school arrests is substantial and lasting over time. School arrests and suspensions can lead to higher dropout rates and lower academic achievement, high school graduation, and college enrollment rates. In other words, school arrests, which in multiple studies have been found to be mostly for behavior at a misdemeanor level, can profoundly negatively impact students for life, with most of these students being disproportionately Black, Latinx, and disabled.
The vexing finding, then, is there are no definitive studies that have found that SROs lead to lower numbers of school shootings, violence, or crimes,[vii] leading one to wonder why have them at all.
With this evidence in mind, H694, S286, and H648 would make schools safer by removing SROs from being stationed in schools, narrow their responsibilities, provide greater access to important data on police activity in schools, and promote redirecting district resources to making schools more supportive and nurturing for the full diversity of students they serve.
Thank you.
[i] Homer, E. M., & Fisher, B. W. (2020). Police in schools and student arrest rates across the United States: Examining differences by race, ethnicity, and gender. Journal of school violence, 19(2), 192-204.
[ii] Stern, A., & Petrosino, A. (2018). What do we know about the effects of school-based law enforcement on school safety?. WestEd citing Fisher, B. W., & Hennessy, E. A. (2016). School resource officers and exclusionary discipline: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Adolescent Research Review, 1, 217–233
[iii] Citizens for Juvenile Justice & Strategies for Youth (2020). Fail: School policing in Massachusetts. Found at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58ea378e414fb5fae5ba06c7/t/5f64b57d40e1a14ef6c1c468/1600435601167/SchoolSafetyPolicyReport.pdf.
[iv] Research for Action. (2020). What impact does the presence of school police have on school safety? Part 1 of 3. Found at ED608041.pdf
[v] Citizens for Juvenile Justice & Strategies for Youth (2020). Fail: School policing in Massachusetts. Found at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58ea378e414fb5fae5ba06c7/t/5f64b57d40e1a14ef6c1c468/1600435601167/SchoolSafetyPolicyReport.pdf.
[vi] Homer, E. M., & Fisher, B. W. (2020). Police in schools and student arrest rates across the United States: Examining differences by race, ethnicity, and gender. Journal of school violence, 19(2), 192-204; Skiba, R. J., Michael, R. S., Nardo, A. C., & Peterson, R. L. (2002). The color of discipline: Sources of racial and gender disproportionality in school punishment. The urban review, 34(4), 317-342.; Wu, S. C., Pink, W., Crain, R., & Moles, O. (1982). Student suspension: A critical reappraisal. The Urban Review, 14(4), 245-303; McCarthy, J. D., & Hoge, D. R. (1987). The social construction of school punishment: Racial disadvantage out of universalistic process. Social Forces, 65(4), 1101-1120; McFadden, A. C., Marsh, G. E., Price, B. J., & Hwang, Y. (1992). A study of race and gender bias in the punishment of school children. Education and treatment of children, 140-146.
[vii] James, N., & McCallion, G. (2013). School resource officers: Law enforcement officers in schools. Congressional Research Service. 5 Woodrow Cox, J. and Rich, S. (2018, March 25). Scarred by school shootings. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/us-school-shootings-history/ 6 Homer, E. M., & Fisher, B. W. (2020). Police in schools and student arrest rates across the United States: Examining differences by race, ethnicity, and gender. Journal of school violence, 19(2), 192-204.
