Mixed results reported for school districts that removed police officers

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A new study looks at the major school districts, including Chicago, that have cut back on police officers in schools over the past four years.

Researcher Anna Bryant, a Loyola University graduate student focusing on criminal justice, looked at school districts in the 30 largest cities in the United States since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

Bryant’s study for the Chicago Justice Project found that 90% of those districts had movements to reduce or remove school resource officers.

“Some of the cities that did originally decide to remove school police in 2020 did end up bringing them back, either in a limited capacity or completely, especially due to concerns about safety around their schools,” she said.

Minneapolis and Denver schools saw dramatic drops in student discipline issues, but others are considering returning police to schools after seeing spikes in violence, she said.

The Chicago School Board voted last month to eliminate school resource officers from all CPS schools starting in the fall. Bryant points out, though, that even with spending being cut on school resource officers, it’s going up for safety and security throughout the school system.

“We’re one of the top school districts in terms of spending per student on that security budget and that includes things like unarmed security guards who aren’t school police that are still there to provide security as well as things like crisis teams and crossing guards,” she said.

Bryant says Chicago is the only one to have decided to wait and then completely remove police from being stationed in schools.

The researcher says her study, commissioned by the Chicago Justice Project, will need follow-ups in the years ahead.

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