Resources >> School Safety >> Safety Reforms

Safety Reforms

Resources about the efforts to reform school policing policies and practices, including sample policies

Policing Reforms

Sample Policies

Policing Reforms

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• End to Random Searches of Students is a Victory for Entire Community EdSource, July 8, 2019

• School Police Operations to Get an Overhaul in Two Big-City Districts EdWeek, July 3, 2019

• With Police Diversion, Student Arrests Plummet, The Notebook, December 8, 2018

• ​Why School Policing Reform Matters, Endzerotolerance.org, June 5, 2017

• Counselors Not Cops: Ending the Regular Presence of Law Enforcement in Schools, Dignity in Schools Campaign, 2016, policy recommendations, resource guide, and  model policies to fight the criminalization of students (October 2018) 

• Parent's Checklist for SROs in Your Children's Schools, Strategies for Youth, 2017

• Students Not Suspects: The Need to Reform School Policing in Washington State, ACLU of Washington, April 18, 2017

• Police Arresting Far Fewer Students After Spokane (Washington) Schools Change Discipline Polices, March 2017, The Spokesman-Review

• City School Safety Data Shows Handcuffs Used Disproportionately on Black and Latino Children,  New York Civil Liberties Union, May, 8, 2017

• Youth Advocacy Group Pushes for a Complaint System about School Police Officers, June 2017, The Notebook 

• The Right to Remain a Student: Police in California Schools, ACLU of California, 2016

• Get Police Out of Schools, Coalition of Student, Parent Groups Says, September 2016, EdWeek 

• Over 100 Education Groups Want To Kick Cops Out Of Schools, September 2016, Huffington Post

• Obama Administration To Schools: Stop Using Police To Enforce Rule, September 2016, Huffington Post

• As Awareness of the School-to-Prison Pipeline Rises, Some Schools Rethink the Role of Police, Huffington Post, May 2015

• School Discipline & Security Personnel: A Tip Sheet for Advocates on Maximizing School Safety and Student Success, National Juvenile Justice Network, October 2015

• Philly District Orders School Police to Stay Out of Level 1 Offenses, March 2014, NewsWorks

• Avoiding Criminalization in School Discipline: Reducing Reliance on Law Enforcement in Schools, Dignity in Schools Campaign, April 2013

• Policing in Schools: Developing a Governance Document for School Resource Officers in K-12 Schools, American Civil Liberties Union, August 2009

• Discipline and Law Enforcement in the K-12 Context: Responses and Regulation, [Podcast], American Bar Association

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Sample Policies

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Removing Police from Schools

• Some school districts have decided to end school policing arrangements by a school board voting to close school district police departments (e.g. Oakland, CA) or to terminate School Resource Officer (SRO) program contracts with local police departments (e.g. Minneapolis, MN). In some cities, school policing programs were ended by the city council removing SROs from school budgets (e.g. Rochester, NY, article and budget). Oakland's Black Organizing Project has developed the People's Plan for Police-Free Schools (implementation proposals).

​Limiting the Use of Force School Officers Can Use with Students

• Spokane Public Schools- Any officer stationed in a school shall not use force [bodily force or physical restriction that substantially immobilizes or reduces free movement] with students as a form of discipline or punishment or "in response to destruction of property, school disruption, refusal to comply with school rules, or a verbal threat that does not constitute a threat of imminent bodily injury."  

Model Board Policy Regarding School District Police Departments

• Recommended California School District Policies Developed by the ACLU of California

Limiting Police Involvement in Low-Level Violations of the Code of Conduct

• Philadelphia School District Police Response to Code of Conduct Offenses School police will not be dispatched to address low level code of conduct violations.

Prohibiting School Resource Officers from Questioning Students about Their Immigration Status

• Tuscon (Arizona) Unified School District immigration anti-discrimination policy prohibits all employees, vendors, School Resource Officers acting under a contract with the district, volunteers, and visitors at schools or school-sponsored activities from investigating and enforcing actions relating to immigration status.  See policy (amended 4/9/2019) and ACLU of Arizona  presentation (Handcuffs on Success)

Alternatives to Arrest - Diversion

• Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court: Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program Multi-agency program provides an alternative to arrest. Program brochure, MOU and Grant Description

Arrest Protocols that Respect Students’ Rights and Dignity

• San Francisco, California – Student arrests for non-school matters should not normally be made on campus. On-campus arrests should be done in a way that does not violate the student’s privacy.

Formal Complaint Process

• Oakland, California – Students parents and parents can file a formal complaint about the behavior of school security.  From Report Card to Criminal Record: The Impact of Policing Oakland Youth describes the campaign that led to the policy.

Eliminating the Discriminatory Police Ticketing of Youth

• Los Angeles, California – City Council amends Municipal Code 45.04 (“Daytime Curfew”) to restrict the punitive ticketing of youth for tardiness and truancy.  Learn more about this successful campaign (video).

Reforming Student Arrest Protocols

• Los Angeles, California – LA School Police Department revises protocols for handling incidents that historically have resulted in citations and battery arrests. Learn about the new citation and arrest protocols and flowchart of the new intervention protocols.

Model Memorandum of Understanding between School District and Police Department

• ACLU of California recommended MOU 

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