5
and for people outside of the school to be aware that schools have police presence for safety. Many studies have been undertaken to capture the level of fear and safety concerns that students and parents have since the Columbine shooting and 9/11 terrorist attack, with safety being the most important concern. Authors Mark A. Glaser (a professor at Wichita State) and Janet Denhardt (professor at Arizona State) conducted research to determine if community policing builds a strong bond between the community and its citizens with local law enforcement (Glaser & Denhardt, 2010). Their research was a “spin-off” of the Neighborhood Initiatives program created to build positive relationships with citizens, communities, and law enforcement to combat crime and bitterness in the communities (Glaser & Denhardt, 2010). The purpose of the research study was to obtain police officers perspectives on how they feel about community policing and how committed they are to it. The data indicated that officers do understand the importance of strengthening neighborhoods, however connections with police officers and neighborhoods are not as strong as it used to be (Glaser & Denhardt, 2010).
To see if interaction with SROs has an impact on how students view the police, Arrick Jackson, a professor in Criminal Justice at Missouri State University, conducted a research study on this question. Jackson (2002), wanted to find out whether police in schools influenced students perception of the police over time in comparison to schools that do not have a SROs. Jackson predicted that interactions with SROs would not have a significant impact on a students’ perception of the police in general. The findings of the study were there that was no significant impact upon shaping young people’s perception of the police or their delinquency. The author suggested that the “SROs presences serves as a deterrent against criminal activity in the open, they do not serve as a deterrent against criminal behavior that attempts at remaining hidden” (Jackson, 2002). Although SRO's are on school campuses, they do not prevent certain criminal activities such as assault and selling drugs while at school.
Authors Chongmin Na and Denise C. Gottfredson conducted a research study to answer questions like “does adding police to school reduce crime, increase formal processing of offending behaviors, increase the use of harsh discipline and exclusionary practices, and has
a disproportionate effect on minority and special education students.” The research was conducted using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSCS) where principles reported the number of violent acts and thefts that occurred in their school and if these incidents were reported to the police. The data showed that crimes that are more serious are more likely to be reported to the police regardless if the SRO was present or not. It also showed that for almost all types of crimes, if a SRO is on campus it will more than likely be reported to police than those schools that do not have a SRO (Na & Gottfredson, 2013). The findings of the report are consistent with the prediction that increased use of SROs enables the formal processing of minor offenses that usually would be handled with regular school administration. It also shows that with the increase use of police in schools “no evidence of adverse impact of police officer presence on minority groups or on special education populations” (Na & Gottfredson, 2013).
Professor Ida Johnson from the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama conducted a research study of the effectiveness of SROs. This research set out to answer the following questions: “is the School Resource Officer program successful in fulfilling stated program goals and what