![]() ![]() ![]() ESSA contains no provisions regarding the use of SROs. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) removed the definition of “school resource officer” that was present in prior federal education law under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act. This statute defines an SRO as “a career law enforcement officer, with sworn authority, deployed in community-oriented policing, and assigned by the employing police department or agency to work in collaboration with schools and community-based organizations.” ![]() Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing” primarily via grant resources. The only definition of “school resource officer” (SRO) in current federal law appears under the authorizing legislation for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), “a component of the U.S. By 2018, about 58%of schools reported having a police presence. In 1975, only 1% of schools reported having police officers on-site. Finally, I present recommendations for alternative approaches to school safety. I subsequently explore the research on the impact of SROs in schools. In this policy brief, I first outline federal and state policies related to SROs. While SROs are one of the most visible ways to promote students’ safety, research overwhelmingly suggests that SROs have no positive impact on students’ safety and may in fact make students less safe. Policies that establish a police presence in schools respond to acute pressure on schools to keep students safe. Since 1998, the federal government has invested over $1 billion to explicitly increase police presence in schools, and over $14 billion to advance community policing, which can include SROs. In response to school shootings in the 1990s, federal and state legislation spurred this rapid proliferation of SROs. In 1975, only 1% of schools reported having police officers on site, but by 2018, approximately 58% of schools had at least one sworn law enforcement official present during the school week. public schools have employed a growing number of school resource officers (SROs) – defined here as sworn law enforcement officials. Editor’s Note: Chelsea Connery, Neag School doctoral candidate in the Learning, Leadership, and Educational Policy program, prepared the following issue brief - in affiliation with the Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA) - examining police presence in schools and its effect on students. ![]()
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