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Results for school crime (minnesota)

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Author: Swayze, Dana

Title: Law enforcement in Minnesota schools: A statewide survey of school resource officers.

Summary: Police agencies have long had a role in service to schools. Traditional activities have included periodic patrols, responding to calls for service and criminal investigations of offenses involving youth. Only in the last 20 years has assigning law enforcement officers to schools on a full-time basis become a widespread practice. Some factors thought to have contributed to the expanded use of police in schools include the rising involvement of juveniles in crime in the 1980s and 1990s; the shift to accountability-based policies to behavior in schools, including "zero tolerance;" and new, federal funding for community oriented policing, which includes funding for law enforcement in schools. In addition, high profile school shootings in the late-1990s, coupled with the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, significantly elevated concern for schools as targets of violence. The presence of law enforcement in schools has been controversial. Proponents assert that School Resource Officers (SROs) keep students and educators safe, which in turn creates an environment conducive to learning. SROs help schools prepare for potential external threats and help reduce the internal presence of drugs, alcohol, weapons, gangs and violence. In addition, SROs can serve as mentors for youth, and educators for students and staff. Supports believe SRO programs encourage positive relationships between students and police, increasing the likelihood that youth will come to police with information about illegal activity. Those opposed to law enforcement presence in schools contend there is little evidence to demonstrate that SRO programs reduce illegal or disruptive behavior. By the time SROs became common in the late 1990s, juvenile involvement in crime was already declining both inside and outside of schools. Opponents express concern that SROs can negatively affect school climate and compromise the civil rights of youth. Of particular concern is the criminalization of certain behaviors by a justice system response - behaviors which, in the absence of an SRO, would have been addressed with school-based discipline. Furthermore, justice system responses are more likely to be applied to youth of color, special education students and low income students. The practice of school-based policing expanded rapidly in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, leaving little time for evaluation or establishment of best practices. Goals and outcome measures for SRO programs have been elusive given the tremendous variability across states and jurisdictions. Throughout the 2000s, researchers studied the effects of law enforcement in schools in an attempt to provide policy-and-practice guidelines for these unique partnerships.

Details: St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs, 2014. 111p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 28, 2015 at: https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ojp/forms-documents/Documents/SRO%20REPORT.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: United States

URL: https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ojp/forms-documents/Documents/SRO%20REPORT.pdf

Shelf Number: 134478

Keywords:
School Crime (Minnesota)
School Discipline
School Resource Officers
School Safety
School Violence