Nathan James
Analyst in Crime Policy
Gail McCallion
Specialist in Social Policy
Some
policymakers have expressed renewed interest in school resource officers (SROs)
as a result of the December 2012 mass shooting that occurred at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown, CT. SROs are sworn law enforcement officers
who are assigned to work in schools.
For FY2014, the Administration requested $150 million in funding for a Comprehensive
Schools Safety Program under the Community Oriented Policing Services
(COPS) program. The proposed program would provide funding for hiring
school safety personnel, including SROs, civilian public safety personnel,
school psychologists, social workers, and counselors. Funding would also
be available for purchasing school safety equipment, developing and updating
public safety plans, conducting threat assessments, and training crisis
intervention teams.
Data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics show that the number of full-time
law enforcement officers employed by local police departments or sheriff’s
offices who were assigned to work as SROs increased between 1997 and 2003
before decreasing slightly in 2007 (the most recent year for which data
are available). Data show that a greater proportion of high schools, schools in cities,
and schools with enrollments of 1,000 or more report having SROs.
Two federal grant programs promoted SRO programs: the COPS in Schools (CIS)
program, which was funded until FY2005, and State Formula Grants under the
Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA), which was funded
until FY2009. The CIS program provided grants for hiring new, additional
school resource officers to conduct community policing services in and
around primary and secondary schools. Local educational agencies could use
funds they received under the SDFSCA State Formula Grant program for,
among other things, hiring and training school security personnel.
The body of research on the effectiveness of SRO programs is limited, both in
terms of the number of studies published and the methodological rigor of
the studies conducted. The research that is available draws conflicting
conclusions about whether SRO programs are effective at reducing school
violence. Also, the research does not address whether SRO programs deter school
shootings, one of the key reasons for renewed congressional interest in these
programs.
There are several questions Congress might consider in the context of grant
funding specifically for SRO programs.
-
Does the current level of school violence warrant congressional efforts to expand
the number of SROs in schools across the country? Data suggest that schools
are, generally speaking, safe places for children. During the 2010-2011 school
year there were 11 reported homicides of children at school. The number of
youth homicides that occurred at school remained less than 2% of the total number
of homicides of school aged children for each school year going back to the
1992-1993 school year. In 2010, fewer children reported being the victim of a serious
violent crime or a simple assault while at school compared to 1994. However,
data also show that some schools—namely middle schools, city schools, and
schools with a higher proportion of low-income students—have higher rates
of reported violent incidents, and schools with a higher proportion of low-income
students had higher rates of reported serious violent incidents.
-
Is funding for a wide-scale expansion of SRO programs financially sustainable?
If Congress expanded the number of SROs through additional federal
funding, it is likely that many of those officers would go to law enforcement
agencies serving jurisdictions of fewer than 25,000 people (data show that
nearly 88% of police departments and almost half of sheriff’s offices serve
jurisdictions of fewer than 25,000 people). Traditionally, COPS grants have provided
“seed” money for local law enforcement agencies to hire new officers, but
it is the responsibility of the recipient agency to retain the officer(s) after
the grant expires. Since smaller law enforcement agencies tend to have
smaller operating budgets and smaller sworn forces, retaining even one or
two additional officers after a grant expired might pose a significant
financial burden.
-
Would additional SROs result in more children being placed in the criminal justice
system? Research in this area is limited to a small number of studies, but these
suggest that children in schools with SROs might be more likely to be arrested
for low-level offenses. On the other hand, some studies indicate that SROs
can deter students from committing assaults on campus as well as bringing weapons
to school. Schools with SROs may also be more likely to report nonserious violent
crimes (i.e., physical attack or fights without a weapon and threat of
physical attack without a weapon) to the police than schools lacking SROs.
Date of Report: June 26, 2013
Number of Pages: 35
Order Number: R43126
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