The juvenile justice system is distinct from the adult system because it accounts for youth making impulsive decisions due to hormonal changes, lack of experiential learning, and still-developing brains. External factors such as dysfunctional family dynamics and other environmental influences can compound these difficulties. With many factors at play during adolescence, the juvenile justice system is intended to take a primarily rehabilitative approach and divert kids from the adult system through counseling referrals and diversion programs. However, policies that increase kids' contact with the legal system have become more popular over the years, especially the placement of police in schools. Studies analyzing the effects of school police on student arrest rates are scarce and often restricted to small samples, making results hard to generalize. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has helped reduce this gap by comparing public schools with and without school police using a nationally representative sample from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) and the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSCS) for the 2015-16 and 2017-18 school years.
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Table of Contents
- The juvenile justice system is distinct from the adult system because it 1
- Studies analyzing the effects of school police on student arrest rates are 1
- Data Collection CRDC and the School Survey on Crime and Safety SSCS 1
- The GAO estimated that schools with a police officer present at least once 1
- School disorder includes the reported frequency of student racial ethnic 1
- The GAO also performed a descriptive analysis of SSCS information 1
- However the report did not conclude whether adding police was 2
- Barrow County Georgia attack likely saving lives. 2
- A major problem is an unclear line between school administratorsʼ roles 2
- But when officers handle misconduct in schools with arrests it can 2
- Additionally over-policing can be counterproductive in establishing 2
- Police violence is a broader issue facilitated by weak accountability and 2
- The GAO report echoes findings from other research placing officers in 2
- Overall additional research and reporting on how arrests affect students 3
