Changes in School Climate Associated with Implementing School Resource Officers

• In Event: School Resource Officers’ Training, Implementation and Influence on School Safety and Climate

Abstract

School resource officers (SROs) are an increasingly common mechanism used to maintain school safety. Ethnographic studies have found that placing SROs in schools can have an effect on the broader school climate, including fostering a sense of alienation and fracturing relationships between students and adults. However, these findings have not been investigated thoroughly in the quantitative literature. Using 15 years of survey data from nearly 150 schools within a single large school district, this study examines the changes in school climate associated with implementing school resource officers. The study design capitalizes on the staggered implementation of SROs within the district as well as a set of comparison schools that did not implement SROs. The findings from this study will help to shed light on some of the critiques of placing police in schools and the resultant unintended consequences.

Authors

• Benjamin W. Fisher, University of Louisville

• Cherie Dawson-Edwards, University of Louisville

• Kristin Swartz, University of Louisville

• Ethan M. Higgins, University of Louisville

• Suzanne Overstreet, University of Louisville