School Resource Officers’ Training, Implementation and Influence on School Safety and Climate

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

According to the Indicators of School Crime and Safety Report (2016) from 1999 to 2015 the percentage of schools who reported the presence of school security or assigned police officers increased from 54 percent to 70 percent. The existing body of research on school resource officers (SROs) is limited both in the number of studies and by the rigor of those studies. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Comprehensive School Safety Initiative has funded several rigorous studies that examine SROs, their training, the impact of SROs on perceptions of climate and safety and SRO involvement in school discipline. This thematic panel will include presentations on these rigorous studies. The first presentation evaluates the effectiveness of a comprehensive research-based framework for integrating school police into the educational environment to increase safety and improve climate. The second presentation uses interviews with nearly 50 SROs across two school districts to identify common strategies that SROs use to build relationships with students. The third presentation examines the changes in school climate associated with implementing school resource officers. The last presentation explores the relationship between training and support of SROs.

Sub Unit

• Area V. Correlates of Crime / 32. School Experiences

Division of Special Interest

• Division Session of Interest / Division of Experimental Criminology

Individual Presentations

• A Research-Based Framework for Implementing School-Based Law Enforcement Programs - Kathy Martinez-Prather, Texas State University; Brenda Scheuermann, Texas State University; Anthony Petrosino, WestEd; Joesph M. McKenna, Texas State, Texas School Safety Center

• Strategies That School Resource Officers Use to Build Relationships with Students - Samantha Viano, George Mason University; Benjamin W. Fisher, University of Louisville; F. Chris Curran, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Aaron Kupchik, University of Delaware; John Skinner, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

• Changes in School Climate Associated with Implementing School Resource Officers - 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

• Training and Support of School Resource Officers and School Safety Officers – Influences on Referrals from School to Law Enforcement - Gerard Lawson, Virginia Tech University; Laura E. Welfare, Virginia Tech University

Chair

• Nadine Frederique, National Institute of Justice