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Schools Bring Police Back to Campuses, Reversing Racial Justice Decisions Schools Bring Police Back to Campuses, Reversing Racial Justice Decisions
(about 1 hour later)
In the summer of 2020, Denver school leaders quickly banished police officers from campuses and directed the funds toward social workers and psychologists. The city, like many across the nation, was roiled by protests against law enforcement after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.In the summer of 2020, Denver school leaders quickly banished police officers from campuses and directed the funds toward social workers and psychologists. The city, like many across the nation, was roiled by protests against law enforcement after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
School board members cited as a major reason reams of data showing that Black students were far more likely than white students to be arrested.School board members cited as a major reason reams of data showing that Black students were far more likely than white students to be arrested.
But a spasm of violence affecting Denver city schools this year has brought a sudden reversal. Armed officers were quickly deployed this spring for the final weeks of school. And come fall, school resource officers will return permanently to Denver schools, as fears over student safety have mounted.But a spasm of violence affecting Denver city schools this year has brought a sudden reversal. Armed officers were quickly deployed this spring for the final weeks of school. And come fall, school resource officers will return permanently to Denver schools, as fears over student safety have mounted.
In the three years since Mr. Floyd’s death, just as the broader movement to defund the police faltered as crime surged, the push to remove the police from schools has stalled and in many cases reversed amid America’s unrelenting epidemic of gun violence. Communities across the country that had banned school resource officers, from Alexandria, Va., to Pomona, Calif., have changed course. And some larger cities that removed officers, such as Seattle and Washington, are embroiled in contentious debates about bringing them back.In the three years since Mr. Floyd’s death, just as the broader movement to defund the police faltered as crime surged, the push to remove the police from schools has stalled and in many cases reversed amid America’s unrelenting epidemic of gun violence. Communities across the country that had banned school resource officers, from Alexandria, Va., to Pomona, Calif., have changed course. And some larger cities that removed officers, such as Seattle and Washington, are embroiled in contentious debates about bringing them back.
The renewed push is unfolding just as prosecutors in Florida are seeking a criminal conviction for Scot Peterson, the longtime school resource officer in Parkland who waited in a campus alcove instead of confronting the gunman who killed 17 people in 2018. The trial — thought to be the first in the nation against a member of law enforcement for inaction in a school shooting — has raised questions about the duty of campus officers during school violence. Jurors began deliberating on Monday over whether Mr. Peterson was guilty of child neglect, among other charges.
The debate over resource officers also comes after the nation set a record for school shootings in 2022, punctuated by the murder of 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. A CBS News poll conducted after the Uvalde shooting showed that 75 percent of parents of school-age children wanted armed security on their campuses.