Title: The School Safety Study: Overview

• In Event: Research on Police in Schools: The School Safety Study

Abstract

The School Safety Study will compare data on 49 public middle and high schools in California and Florida that hired SROs through the Department of Justice’s 2013 and 2014 Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program (CHP) to data on 102 similar schools that did not receive CHP grants. Annual data on discipline incidents, responses to those incidents, and referrals to the justice system will be collected for each school for approximately two years prior to and following the deployment of newly-funded SROs in the schools. Where available, monthly data on these same outcomes will be collected for the same time period. The study will assess the extent to which changes in the measured outcomes correspond with the addition of the new SROs. Numerous additional outcomes are being measured through law enforcement agency interviews, school administrator surveys, and SRO surveys. These outcomes include the SRO approach, dose, and the school context.

The study’s findings have the potential to redefine the roles and training requirements for SROs. Information from this study will help communities determine if the placement of SROs in their schools is warranted or if resources could be more profitably invested in alternative approaches. The first presentation will provide an overview of the School Safety Study, report on progress, and discuss challenges encountered to date.

Author

• Denise Gottfredson, University of Maryland