Studies Show Police in Schools Don’t Make Them Safer

Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School, 700 S. 4th St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

In June of 2023, the Wisconsin Legislature passed Act 12 requiring that Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) place 25 school resource officers (SRO) in its schools by the fall of 2023. That didn’t happen.

On the surface, it appears that the fight between MPS and the city is over which governmental body will pay for the SROs, with Mayor Cavalier Johnson contending MPS should foot most of the costs, as Urban Milwaukee has reported. Act 12 provided no direct funds to support police officers at MPS, nor state any penalties if the school district did not comply with the mandate. But Republican legislators have threatened to cut state funding for MPS if SROs are not hired.

Meanwhile, according to elected officials speaking off the record, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman has privately told MPS officials and others outside the school district that he is concerned about placing 25 police officers full time in schools while the city faces a shortage of officers on the streets.

A similar viewpoint was stated by Alderman DiAndre Jackson in September as reported by Fox 6: “If I put the funds to the police officers, I’d rather see them in the streets, I want to see them riding around, I want to see them doing actual police work, not saying being in schools wouldn’t be police work, but the schools already have security guards.”

MPS does employ more than 230 safety assistants that are trained to provide screening, de-escalate potential conflicts and work with students. Safety assistants do not carry weapons nor have arrest powers.

Because of inaction on the part of MPS, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of several parents to force this district to place SROs in its schools as soon as possible. A lawsuit could take months, or much longer if appealed, to come to a final resolution. But the Legislature could force the issue through its upcoming state budget which most likely will be completed by this summer.

Meanwhile, Chicago Public Schools began pulling SROs from its buildings beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. Last fall, the district removed its last SROs.

When Chicago ended its SRO program, the National Association of School Police Officers stated, on Feb. 8, 2024, that this was a big mistake. “Other school districts around the nation, including some in large, metropolitan areas, have unfortunately experienced negative consequences over the past few years after discontinuing SRO programs and many subsequently returned SROs to their schools.”

A July 2024 study from the University at Albany did show having police in schools results in fewer fights, though with harsher discipline. But a November 2024 Rand report concluded that “there have been two recent meta-analyses of school violence and SROS that concluded that SROs do not reduce violence.”

Some school districts have returned to using SROs, but may be bending to political pressure rather than implementing an effective policy. In the case of Mayor Johnson, he had to agree to SROs as part of the deal whereby Republican legislators approved a new city sales tax. Johnson has suggested that SROs could deter crime, pointing to an attack by students near Bradley Tech High School, but that was near but not on school grounds. Would an SRO in the school be any more effective in this case than police on call?

A June 2024 study from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research showed a slight drop in Chicago Public Schools disciplinary infractions compared to the previous school year after schools removed SROs. However, the report also found the percentage of Black and Latino students arrested in schools was higher in schools with SROs than in schools without SROS, a statistic that matches national trends.

Surveys of teachers and students by the UChicago Consortium showed that both groups actually felt as safe without the SROs in the buildings.

The argument has been made that SROs in MPS might cut down the number of calls for patrol cars. WILL Associate Counsel Lauren Greuel remarked, “Milwaukee families send their children to MPS with the expectation that their safety is an utmost priority. Failing to provide SROs has left students vulnerable and has forced Milwaukee police officers—through 9-1-1 calls—to pick up the slack when schools need assistance.”

However, the UChicago study showed that once SROs were removed from Chicago schools beginning in FY20, no increase was reported for police being called to the schools.

Since then, UChicago reports, Chicago Public Schools partnered with a group of community-based organizations “to develop the Whole School Safety (WSS) Framework which defines school safety holistically with three pillars of 1) physical safety, 2) emotional safety, and 3) relational trust.” Money that was going to SROs was redirected to support the WSS program.

MPS does employ programs similar to this, such as using restorative practices and student counseling. This is where school board members would like to increase resources.

But regardless of whether the data shows SROs actually work, MPS may be forced to pay for them.