Annually, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) collects, analyzes, and reports to the Governor and Legislature on disciplinary infractions and their consequences, as reported by school districts, to meet the requirements of the Public School Safety Law, N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46 through 48. This report includes statewide information on…

This study investigated teacher perceptions of school resource officers (SROs) and their associations with school safety. The sample consisted of 10,668 teachers in 404 middle schools and 11,900 teachers in 284 high schools. Most middle (86.5%) and high (85.5%) school teachers agreed that the SRO makes them feel safer; however, endorsement…

This fourth of six briefs analyzing data from the 2020-2021 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), released earlier this year, focuses on the experiences of students with disabilities with disciplinary practices at both charter schools and traditional public schools. Though the COVID-19 pandemic was still in its early stages, concerns about the…

The implications of school safety are an important topic within our educational system. Research debates the effect that School Resource Officers have on the perception of safety within the school system. This study was conducted to examine the perception of school safety for ethnically/minoritized students and whether or not that perception is…

The implementation of school-based law enforcement officers, commonly referred to as school resource officers (SROs), became an increasingly popular response to school crime in the United States, particularly in the aftermath of high-profile school shootings in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following the expansion of SRO programs came the…

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…

The "defund the police" movement has recently called for the removal of police--or school resource officers (SROs)--from schools. This call is driven by concerns that SROs may heighten student contact with criminal justice or lead to disproportionately harsh disciplinary consequences. This study uses linked disciplinary, academic,…

National debate over law enforcement in schools has largely overlooked student reporting of violent threats to school resource officer (SROs). This statewide assessment of Virginia high school students (n = 99,358) found that the majority of Black (64%), Hispanic (72%), White (71%), and other racial/ethnic identity (71%) students agreed the SRO…

School resource officers' (SROs) presence (e.g., engagement in patrol, carrying firearms, etc.) and prevention (e.g., mentoring, teaching) roles have not been distinguished in investigations of SROs' association with student outcomes. A model predicting nonviolent incidents and serious violent incidents reported to police from SRO presence and…

Police officers have become increasingly common in public schools in Texas as well as across the U.S. As police officers have increased their presence in public schools, their role in school discipline has often expanded. Though there is growing public debate about the consequences of police presence in schools, there is scant evidence of the…

In response to inquiries about the roles of School Resource Officers (SROs), the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) conducted a review of the SRO program using data from several sources: SRO referral and incident data; a survey of WCPSS students, staff, and members of the community; and data from focus groups. Two major themes emerged from…

School safety is a priority for school administrators and policy makers as they seek strategies to provide an environment conducive to learning. Beyond preventing crime, schools must contend with social disturbances that may not rise to the level of criminal activity, but can negatively affect students, teachers, and the school environment. One…

Disrupted schooling can heavily impact the amount of education pupils receive. Starting in early June of 2011 a huge social outburst of pupil protests, walk-outs, riots and school occupations called the Chilean Winter caused more than 8 million of lost school days. Within a matter of days, riots reached the national level with hundreds of…

School resource officers (SROs) are being increasingly employed in schools to respond to incidents of school violence and to help address safety concerns among students and staff. While previous research on school safety and crisis teams has examined the role of school mental health professionals' and administrators, fewer studies have evaluated…

With a focus on assisting at-risk middle-school students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) to succeed in school and graduate from high school, HISD and several area law enforcement agencies partnered together to conduct the Law Enforcement Mentoring Program. The purpose of this report is to assess the impact of the law enforcement…