Removing Police From Chicago Schools: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis

• In Event: Critical Considerations of Discipline-Related Policies

Abstract

During the summer and fall of 2020, many school districts nationwide responded to political movements protesting George Floyd’s murder by removing or reducing their School Resource Officer (SRO; specialized school-based police) programs (Riser-Kositsky et al., 2021). In Chicago, high schools were given a choice: keep SROs or receive compensatory safety funding. This approach reduced the number of SROs by more than half. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we examine how student disciplinary outcomes and perceptions of safety shifted with SRO removal. We additionally examine heterogeneity by students’ estimated likelihood of school-based criminalization (infractions, suspension, arrest referral). Overall, we do not find evidence of detrimental changes in student outcomes, and provide suggestive evidence that some outcomes may improve.

Authors

• Rebecca Hinze-Pifer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Amy E. Arneson, UChicago Consortium on School Research

• Lucy Sorensen, University at Albany - SUNY

• David Wilson Johnson, Northwestern University

• Christina Scanlon, University of Chicago