School officials
Communities should explore, implement, and evaluate discipline and safety alternatives to using sworn law enforcement officers in schools, absent a clear, compelling, and continuing reason to do so. Experimentation is encouraged with alternatives that do not contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, such as restorative justice and social and behavioral approaches, including prevention of substance use…
Additional research is needed to develop strategies that mitigate the potential negative impacts of school-based law enforcement officers on academic achievement, discipline, violence prevention, crime reduction, and police-youth relations. Placement of officers in schools below the high school level should be based on evidence of criminal threats involving the school and should be reviewed annually…
The role of school-based officers should be clearly defined and limited to addressing serious crimes and threats involving students or the school itself. Officer involvement in non-criminal or public safety emergency matters on school grounds should be avoided, as they are best handled outside of the juvenile and criminal justice systems.