By Nicole Spiridigliozzi
Police presence is the norm in many public schools throughout the United States. However, in recent years, the presence and role of security resource officers (SROs) have come under scrutiny. Student activists, have called for the removal of SROs from public schools, and specifically, after high-profile cases of police brutality against black people, such as the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, they have gained momentum in this movement.
Over the years, schools increasingly turned to the school resource officer (SRO) model for developing a safe environment and preventing crime. The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) does not have an official count but estimates that in 2016, there were about 52,100 SROs in public schools compared to 34,000 officers in 2003. According to Time, The National Center for Education Statistics recorded about 45% of public schools had at least one SRO working full-time or part-time during the 2017-18 school year.
To clarify, SROs are sworn police officers, which means they are allowed to carry a firearm, search and seize, and make arrests when they think it is necessary. They generally hold multiple roles as a law enforcement officer, counselor, and teacher. The duties of SROs vary from school to school but may include patrolling the school grounds, investigating crimes that occur within school, gather information from students about crimes, mentoring students, offering drug and crime prevention programs for students, and teaching law-related classes. Their main priority is providing security and safety measures to the school environment.
However, there is clear evidence that SROs do not actually improve the safety of schools. Their presence can be threatening and intimidating, making what is supposed to safe space for students, a hostile environment. Nadera Powell explained to the New York Times, that seeing officers in the hallways at her school sent a message to black students like her, saying “Don’t get too comfortable, regardless of whether this school is your second home. We have you on watch. We are able to take legal action or even physical action against you.”
There are many cases where SROs exert excessive force and escalate incidents that otherwise could have been handled by school administrators. In 2015, a video surfaced of a security resource officer in South Carolina throwing a black student on her desk, dragging her across the classroom and arresting her just because she refused to hand over her cell phone. Another video displayed an 11-year-old in North Carolina being continuously slammed to the ground and violently dragged across the floor by a former SRO.
These students were exposed to aggressive force and intimidation which can severely impact their day-to-day life and impair their learning environment. Not only are some students harmed physically, but many students are mentally and emotionally affected. In these prison-like school environments, students may develop negative feelings and behaviors such as resentment and anger due to the excessive oversight. It is apparent that the SROs contribute to the disorder and disruption happening throughout public schools and interfere with the effective learning environment.
Student activists, policymakers and some educators call for the removal of school policing and reallocate the funds to mental health services and restorative justice programs. Instead of training police officers providing these resources, it may be wiser to hire psychologists to provide counseling and nurses to advise students on drugs and alcohol. Providing this type of professional, who has studied these areas for years will help treat the root causes of student behavioral problems and addictions instead of having a police officer, who is clearly not an expert in these areas.
Changes need to be made to the school environment as the presence of police is does more harm than good. These problems will never be resolved until the police are out of schools. And now is the time to make changes for the sake of the students.