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Ava Kumar

Dr. Tara Gold

Academic Writing: Argument and Research Writing, Block 2A

Aug 23, 2020

The Negative Impact of Police Officer’s Attendance in Secondary Institutions

At school, a student is walking down the hallway. Teens are hustling and bustling near

him from all directions. As he pauses at his locker, however, he notices a police officer looming

at the edge of the crowd. These days, the faculty of many academic institutions include police

officers, and secondary schools are no exception. Currently, one of the main reasons police are in

schools is to prevent crimes, specifically school shootings. While in some cases, police officers

do successfully avert school shootings, there are just as many cases that police officers failed to

curb. This idea applies to other types of crimes as well. Although the purpose of police officers

at secondary schools is to reinforce the safety and security of such institutions, whether police

officers indeed perform this role well is debatable. Police officers should not be present in

secondary institutions, as their frequently inappropriate, and traumatizing means of policing can

have horrendous effects on students’ futures.

To begin, it is important to note that the role of law enforcement is to make each and

every student feel safe and secure at their school, as each school has a diverse student body. One

major part of this student body is people of color. A significant portion of these students do not

feel protected because of police officers at their institution, in fact, they feel more unsafe. There

have been numerous testimonials from people of color stating that police officers provide an

extremely negative experience for them. Some of these students feel threatened daily because of

police officer presence. Multiple students even find the police “dangerous”, and feel traumatized
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at the sight of a police officer at their school, due to the horrible experiences they had with police

officers in the past. This only makes sense, seeing as a study conducted by the New York Civil

Liberties Union discovered that the victims of 90 % of school arrests are black and Hispanic

students (par 4). Such a finding illustrates that people of color are indeed more likely to be

severely punished for normal misbehavior simply because of their race. Black people have

claimed that with police officers at school, they feel dehumanized, and have to be under constant

monitoring because police officers instantly perceive them as criminals. Truly, no one should

have to experience such horrid feelings at school.

Previously, it was mentioned that people of color are more likely to get arrested for

ordinary misbehavior by police officers; such an action has a devastating impact on these

students’ futures - the school-to-prison pipeline. This is the process of students being forced out

of institutions and into prisons. Tony Thurmond, the California State Superintendent of Public

Instructions, notes, “We need to have standards for school resource officers… there should be no

criminalization of students for engaging in student behavior” (Burke par 4). Arresting students

for normal acts of a misdemeanor is an example of inadequate policing, and such an act

reinforces the school-to-prison pipeline, which is very detrimental both for students and the

community. Moreover, one of the main reasons the school-to-prison pipeline is still being

maintained is because of the attendance of police officers on school campuses. Because of the

presence of police officers at school, students are put into direct contact with law enforcement.

Not permitting police officers at institutions would eliminate these interactions, and police

officers would not be able to reinforce the unjust criminalization of students.

Furthermore, there have been countless police brutality issues at schools across the

country. One could argue that police brutality, along with the other issues that were previously
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discussed, are mostly targeted towards students of color, but this does not make them any less

important regarding the safety of institutions. After all, school was designed to be a safe location

for each and every student, regardless of their differences. To add, police brutality is extremely

inequitable. For example, just last year, an 11-year-old girl was slammed into a wall by a

policeman- such an act is inexcusable, considering the girl’s only “mistake” was sweeping past

her teacher (Rahim par 1). Clearly, the harmful actions of one police officer do not determine

how all police offices should be perceived. Nevertheless, it has been found that since 1999, when

schools started hiring police officers, every new officer would result in around 2.5 extra in-

school arrests per year in elementary or secondary school students (Barnum, par 9). Through the

findings of this study along with others, one can see that there have been an extreme amount of

unjust arrests, especially for people of color, which proves that a countless number of police

officers have been policing detrimentally.

Despite the innumerable amount of evidence that police officers are doing more harm

than good at institutions, some may assert that the safety and wellbeing of school as a whole

would crumble without them. After all, with no law enforcement, problems including the drug

market, sexual harassment, physical fights, verbal bullying, and hazing would be amplified, and

no one would be able to step in. However, there are other positions of authority that have the

power to take action to prevent these problems from escalating, including teachers, principals,

and even school administrators. If these problems get too out of hand, these authoritative figures

can refer the problem to the police for further disciplinary action. This solution will not only

prevent a significant amount of unwarranted punishments from happening but also reduce the

number of inexcusable police brutality occurrences at secondary schools. This method will

ultimately create a greater sense of security throughout the student body.

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Ultimately, it is agreeable that police officers and racism are inextricably linked. Such a

link not only results in cruel policing, but also enforces the horrendous school-to-prison pipeline.

Regardless, institutions should not have to function in this way. One of the main purposes of

schools is to create a sense of unity among students. In spite of this, by not policing carefully,

many police officers are doing the exact opposite. Eliminating police at schools would be the

most effective solution to this dilemma, as this regulation would lead to substantially lower

opportunities for students to get arrested for inequitable causes. Truly, secondary institutions

would be more advantageous if there were no police officers present.

Works Cited
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Barnum, Matt. “Do Police Keep Schools Safe? Fuel the School-to-Prison Pipeline?

Here's What Research Says.” Chalkbeat, 23 June 2020,

www.chalkbeat.org/2020/6/23/21299743/police-schools-research.

Burke, Michael. “Should Police Officers Be in Schools? California Education Leaders

Rethink School Safety.” EdSource, 30 June 2020, edsource.org/2020/should-police-

officers-be-in-schools-california-education-leaders-rethink-school-safety/633460.

Rahim, Zamira. “Police Officer Slams Sobbing Black 11-Year-Old Girl into Wall after

She Brushes Past Teacher.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, Oct.

24AD, 2019, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/black-girl-police-officer-

zach-christensen-mesa-view-middle-school-a9169611.html.

“Student Safety Act Reporting.” New York Civil Liberties Union, 2017.

https://www.nyclu.org/sites/default/files/ssa_sy_17-18_factsheet_nyclu.pdf