While it is ok to call police officers to a school campus to respond to a real emergency, there are a number of negative consequences that can come from having officers stationed in schools where they are able to roam hallways, lunchrooms, and classrooms and interact with students in non-emergency situations.
Students can be hurt when officers respond to routine discipline issues that should be handled by appropriately-trained teachers, counselors, and administrators. Some of the negative consequences of taking a punitive approach to minor behaviors include:
- Increased likelihood that students will repeat a grade
- Increased likelihood that students will drop out of school
- Contact with the criminal justice system
- Poor academic performance
- Likelihood of future incarceration
- Physical and emotional trauma
- Impact on personal relationships
It is important to remember that sometimes students may be experiencing significant, underlying life circumstances that lead to challenging behavior. These students need the support of educators, counselors, and social workers, not police.
It is also important to remember that sometimes students have interactions with police even when they have not done anything wrong and have not exhibited any challenging behavior. Research shows that schools with large Black and Latino student populations are more likely than schools with large white populations to use harsh security measures, like police, security cameras, and metal detectors, even when they don't have high rates of crime.
Even students who are simply trying to help their friends and peers can experience the harmful consequences of having unnecessary police interactions in schools.