The Roles of School Resource Officers in Elementary Schools

• In Event: Law Enforcement Officers in Schools

Abstract

School resource officers (SROs) have become an increasingly common intervention in schools and school districts around the country. National estimates indicate that SROs are most prevalent in secondary schools with larger student bodies and higher proportions of non-White students. However, in recent years, SROs have been appearing in elementary schools with increased frequency. Little research exists that examines SROs in elementary schools, leaving open questions about what they are doing. The current study focuses on a two medium-sized suburban school districts in the South that recently implemented SROs in all elementary schools district-wide such that they now have at least one officer in every school in the district. Using activity logs compiled by the SROs themselves, we investigate how SROs report spending their time in elementary schools, including what criminal offenses they encounter and whether they made any arrests for these offenses.

Authors

• F. Chris Curran, University of Maryland Baltimore County

• Benjamin W. Fisher, University of Louisville

• Samantha Viano, Vanderbilt University

• Emily Hayden, University of Louisville