Violence, Equity, and Community Voice in Chicago Public Schools' Reimagining of School Safety

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Five
  In Roundtable Session: Reimagining School Safety and Relational Ontologies Across Communities (Table 3)

Abstract

Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) locally controlled process of School Resources Officer (SRO) removal in 2020 and 2021 stood out in contrast to the centralized processes of comparably sized districts. However, despite being framed as a tool to increase equity and reduce the differential impacts of school-based policing on communities of color, the local democratic process extended inequalities: Black students in Chicago are now even more likely than their non-Black peers to attend a school with a police officer. This research explores why communities chose to keep their officers despite activist demands for removal and mounting social science research questioning their function through analysis of Local School Council meetings at 27 schools, and by situating those meetings within distinct safety contexts.

Authors

• Alex Koenig, University of Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Uma Blanchard, University of Chicago
  Presenting Author