Guest Author: Cops In Schools
I have refrained, so far, from writing about the Newtown school shooting tragedy and the related issue of gun control. I thought I'd be writing about it this week, since the list of recommendations from Joe Biden's task force had been rumored to be released today. Since the White House has announced they'll be released tomorrow when President Obama lays out what he's in favor of doing, I'm going to hold off on commenting on the whole gun control debate until then.
Which, of course, left me with a blank sheet of paper for today's column. Serendipitously, before I had time to wonder what I'd be writing about today instead, I was contacted by a spokesperson for the Justice Policy Institute with a proposed op-ed piece. I get a lot of these in my email, but this one caught my eye because of the relevance to this week's debate, and because it is a well-written advocacy piece which should give some food for thought on one of the ideas currently being proposed: putting police officers in schools. I'm not fully advocating the views put forth here, but I thought it would be a good addition to the debate. I'll be writing about my thoughts on gun control tomorrow. For now, here is the view of the Justice Policy Institute's Executive Director, Tracy Velázquez.
-- Chris Weigant
Cops In Schools
Vice President Joe Biden's office is on a fast track to issue recommendations for reducing gun violence in response to the Newtown school shootings. In terrible incidents like this, the public demand that policymakers "do something" is high; however, too often, a quickly-crafted "solution" creates lasting harm to the very people it seeks to protect, in this instance, the students themselves. This certainly will be the case if special interests like the National Rifle Association (N.R.A.) have their way and we see the number of police in schools begin once again to rise.
Following the 1999 Columbine High School shootings, policymakers -- including then-President Bill Clinton and lawmakers on Capitol Hill -- began ratcheting up law enforcement in schools. Between 1999 and 2003, the C.O.P.S. in Schools Program -- a part of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (C.O.P.S.) within the U.S. Department of Justice -- spent over $700 million to fund and train more than 6,100 School Resource Officers (S.R.O.s), who are sworn law enforcement officers permanently assigned a school or school system. By 2003, the number of S.R.O.s in schools had risen over 45 percent, to over 14,000 officers. [Department of Justice figures]
What have we learned from this expensive (almost $1 billion just at the federal level) experiment? First, there is no clear correlation between police in schools and school safety. Rates of violent crimes in schools had already begun falling by 1999, from 59 incidents per 1,000 students in 1994 to 36 in 1999 just prior to the launch of COPS in Schools -- a 39 percent decline. During the main influx of money and police, from 1999 to 2004, there was a continued but less dramatic (33 percent) decline in school violence. Since then, school violence has continued to fall, with 14 incidents reported per 1,000 students in 2010, even while due to budget cuts there have been significant decreases in the number of S.R.O.s and other law enforcement officers in schools. The number of homicides in schools has also been declining, although because of their relative rarity (over 98 percent of student homicides occur away from school), an incident like the Newtown tragedy will obviously affect this trend [Department of Justice figures, in PDF format].
We also learned that since most officers in most schools most of the time don't have to deal with armed intruders, they have a lot of time on their hands for other tasks. Particularly in underfunded public schools, school personnel began to rely on them for routine disciplinary problems. Food fight in the cafeteria: call the S.R.O. Yelling match in the library: call the S.R.O. Smoking cigarettes in the bathroom... you get the idea.
The result was a massive increase in the number of youth being arrested and formally processed through the justice system. Even when controlling for school poverty, one study found that schools with an S.R.O. had nearly five times the rate of arrests for disorderly conduct as those without an S.R.O. Denver saw a 71 percent increase in school referrals to law enforcement between 2000 and 2004, while in Clayton County, Georgia referrals increased dramatically when S.R.O.s were introduced, from less than 100 per year in the 1990s to approximately 1,400 in 2004 [see: Education Under Arrest].
While some may think that an arrest and trip to juvenile court will "teach a kid a lesson," the reality is that justice system involvement has far-reaching negative impacts on youth. Being locked up in a juvenile facility alone can be dangerous, cause youth to fall behind in school, and expose them to older youth who have been involved in more serious offenses. In many school districts, an arrest or referral to the justice system also means suspension or expulsion from school, which cuts off the student from the positive interactions of schools and increases the chance that they will eventually drop out. Furthermore, juvenile justice system involvement can affect a student's ability to get a job, go to college, join the military, or even get a driver's license. These are very high prices to pay for misbehavior that once was addressed with an afternoon or Saturday in the detention room or principal's office.
No one can "guarantee" a solution that will prevent another mass shooting. However, there are many policies and practices that -- unlike increasing police in schools -- will make schools safer and better places to learn. Investing more in education is itself a public safety strategy, as reduced class sizes, better training and support for teachers, and more counselors and health professionals can have improved individual and school outcomes. And conversely, programs designed to improve student behavior, like social and emotional learning, also improve academic performance. Not only are these approaches more effective, they also are less expensive for taxpayers.
We've learned too much at too great a cost to our kids to let rhetoric drive our policies. Increasing school police should be a non-starter when Vice President Biden and others gather to discuss ways to reduce gun violence and improve school safety.
-- Tracy Velázquez
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Hi Tracy and welcome to Weigantia.. :D
A very interesting perspective.. It lays out quite logically and rationally some of the pitfalls of having cops in schools.
Being a former cop myself, I honestly don't believe that some of your "pitfalls" are actually pitfalls at all. A trip thru the justice system CAN have the effect of scaring a kid straight..
Doesn't always happen. More often than not it doesn't..
But I submit to you that, if it helps just ONE kid go straight that would have otherwise ended up in jail or dead (Sanford FL shooting) then I would think it's worth it..
Further (and I am sure you and everyone here would agree with me) if it prevents ONE Columbine or ONE Sandy Hook, then the expense, ANY expense, would be worth it...
We've learned too much at too great a cost to our kids to let rhetoric drive our policies.
Amen to THAT...
Increasing school police should be a non-starter when Vice President Biden and others gather to discuss ways to reduce gun violence and improve school safety.
The problem is many of the "solutions" being bandied about are also non-starters..
Most are not only useless, but downright dangerous and will likely bring about the very problems they seek to prevent..
If one steps back away from the issue, ignores the emotionalism and the hysteria, and views things thru the cold light of objectivity, the solution is quite simple..
Unfortunately, it's also completely unpalatable to those with a political agenda.
Again, a very interesting commentary. And welcome to our little corner of the Internet. :D
Michale
Furthermore, juvenile justice system involvement can affect a student's ability to get a job, go to college, join the military, or even get a driver's license. These are very high prices to pay for misbehavior that once was addressed with an afternoon or Saturday in the detention room or principal's office.
I am also constrained to point out that the "misbehavior" that resulted in an afternoon in the Principal's Office or a Saturday at detention was usually tardiness or sticking little girl's pigtails into inkwells.. :D
In the here and now, the "misbehavior" consists of bringing knives and weapons to school, assaults with intent, drugs, etc etc...
In other words, LEO problems.
LEO problems that require an LEO response...
Spare The Rod And Spoil The Child is not only an out-moded concept in the here and now, it creates the kind of life-time criminals that schools are supposed to prevent...
Now THAT statement is going to get me in trouble with Weignatia's Education Secretary, but oh well.. :D
Michale
I am also constrained to point out that the "misbehavior" that resulted in an afternoon in the Principal's Office or a Saturday at detention was usually tardiness or sticking little girl's pigtails into inkwells.. :D
"Trelane was probably doing things comparable to the mischievous pranks you played when you were a boy."
" 'Mischievous pranks', Captain?"
"Yes -- dipping little girls' curls in inkwells, stealing apples from the neighbors' trees, tying cans on -- forgive me...Mr. Spock. I should have known better."
"As you say, Captain."
-STAR TREK, The Squire Of Gothos
Don't worry, if ya hang around, you get used to it. :D
Michale
CW,
I don't want to look like an idjut (too late :D) in front of our new guest..
Could ya close that attribute for me?? :D
Danke...
Michale
Great post, especially the linkage between the C.O.P.S programme and America's broken prison system.
Ya know...
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/16/list-executive-actions-obama-plans-to-take-as-part-anti-gun-violence-plan/
I really don't have too much of a problem with many of these..
Some are utterly ridiculous... Some are completely useless and will likely do more harm than good..
It's being reported that magazine and rifle restrictions are in the list, but damned if I can find them.
Assuming there is no ban/restriction/confiscation in the works, most of these are not that unreasonable...
Michale....
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/15/ore-sheriff-says-wont-enforce-new-gun-laws/
1776 all over again...
Michale
Michale -
I can't vouch for its accuracy, but here's the best list of what Obama announced I've found yet (in very easy to understand format). Several of these left me wondering about the details, but it's a really good overview:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/obama-gun-proposals/?hpid=z1
Oh, and I fixed your tag (you're welcome...)
:-)
-CW
Spare The Rod And Spoil The Child is not only an out-moded concept in the here and now, it creates the kind of life-time criminals that schools are supposed to prevent...
Now THAT statement is going to get me in trouble with Weignatia's Education Secretary, but oh well.. :D
would that be me?
that misinterpreted biblical verse is usually used as an excuse for teachers and parents to use corporal punishment on kids. as a discipline strategy hitting kids is not particularly effective. what that has to do with cops in schools i have no idea. to be honest, i think the tragedy at sandy hook elementary doesn't have much at all to do with education. irrespective of that, Ms. Velasquez's suggestion of investing in the nuts and bolts of education is a good one.
beyond that, i would say the deeper problem is that our public institutions, schools included, have become based on bureaucracy instead of community. i think the push to create more charter schools, irrelevant as it is to the quality of education, has gained a cultural foothold largely because people sense the widespread loss of a sense of community and grasp at any chance to provide that to children who don't have it. more than ever before, our culture isolates people from their neighbors and peers. if a child misbehaves, or a young adult is mentally ill, parents, neighbors and peers don't seem to want to address the problem until someone gets seriously hurt. everyone is too busy minding their own business. then when something bad happens, they look around for someone other than themselves to blame.
~joshua
Oh, and I fixed your tag (you're welcome...)
Thanx ya kindly.. :D
It occurred to me.. Do you issue warnings to guest authors?? :D
Joshua,
would that be me?
It would indeed.. :D
if a child misbehaves, or a young adult is mentally ill, parents, neighbors and peers don't seem to want to address the problem until someone gets seriously hurt. everyone is too busy minding their own business. then when something bad happens, they look around for someone other than themselves to blame.
I could not possibly agree more with this..
I don't think it's so much minding one's own business as people are afraid to get involved where THEY will become the criminal or the racist or the bad person who made a false accusation.
It's the product of a society more concerned with being politically correct and less concerned with doing what is morally right.
And it's just sad....
Michale
Great post, especially the linkage between the C.O.P.S programme and America's broken prison system.
I second this. Much enjoyed, Tracy!
Have you ever read Michelle Alexander's work on the American prison system?
http://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Michelle-a/dp/1595586431
Keep up the good work!
-David