Kindergarten Cop: Case Study of Adoption and Implementation of School Resource Officers in Elementary Schools

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Discipline and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Abstract

Adopting SROs in schools has become a popular policy response to school shootings. We explore a case study of two school districts that adopted SROs across all elementary schools in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We utilize the advocacy coalition framework to explore how this coalition formed, what beliefs bound this coalition together, and how those beliefs translated into implementation of SROs in elementary schools. We found the coalition between the school districts and the Sheriff’s Department was bound together by shared beliefs on safety and the general goodness of law enforcement. SROs were seen as helping to keep young children safe while teaching them to trust law enforcement and see them in a positive light.

Authors

• Samantha Viano, George Mason University

• Chris Curran, University of Florida

• Benjamin W. Fisher, Florida State University