Should police be in schools? How arrests in Philadelphia's school district dropped by 84% in 5 years
“During the 2013-2014 school year, nearly 1,600 children were arrested for things such as fighting and bringing knives or mace to school. But a diversion program started the following academic year by school safety chief and former Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Kevin Bethel helped change that.”
In order foster similar successful programs in other parts of the country, a bill has been introduced in Congress, “the Counseling not Criminalization in Schools Act, which would establish a $2.5 billion grant program for schools to replace law enforcement officials with those that provide services that support mental health.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-in-schools-philadelphia-school-district-arrests/
Study Finds More School Arrests In Florida After the State Doubled The Number of Police in Schools
BY Reason
In 2018, Florida schools saw a hiring surge for police officers. As a result, a new study says, the number of school arrests—which had been declining for years—suddenly started to rise. There was also a sharp increase in the use of physical restraint against students.
"The presence of law enforcement in schools was related to increases in the number of behavioral incidents reported to the state, the number of such incidents reported to law enforcement, and student arrests," the report says. "The results suggest a need to reconsider whether law enforcement should be present in schools, and, if they are, how they can be implemented in a way that minimizes unnecessary exposure of students to law enforcement and arrests."
https://reason.com/2020/09/04/study-finds-more-school-arrests-in-florida-after-the-state-doubled-the-number-of-police-in-schools/
For additional information on the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act, visit:
https://pressley.house.gov/sites/pressley.house.gov/files/200729%20CNC%20One%20Pager.pdf