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More and more police officers are stationed at public schools.  A report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union shows that in three Connecticut towns, the presence of police officers changes the way schools handle discipline and leads to more arrests of minority students.

It’s a relatively new phenomenon, sworn law enforcement, called School Resource Officers or SRO’s, permanently assigned to public schools.   In its report, the ACLU examines data from Hartford, West Hartford and East Hartford and finds problems in the SRO programs, as well as troubling arrest practices in all three districts.  ACLU attorney Jamie Dycus.

"We believe in the vast majority of cases, student misconduct should be addressed by teachers and by principals.  And that the involvement of a police officer in misconduct at school should only be a last resort.  Furthermore, when it does occur, it has to occur in a manner that’s lawful, that’s rational, that’s proportional to the offense and takes no account of the race of the student, or the student’s gender or whether the student has a disability."

In West Hartford and East Hartford, data shows that students of color who commit certain disciplinary infractions like fighting or drug possession are more likely to be arrested than white students committing the very same offenses.  In all three districts very young students are being arrested in school.  The ACLU recommends that all school districts have formal written policies that clarify SRO program objectives; that SRO’s receive adequate training; and that school districts monitor and evaluate SRO program performance.