It’s no surprise that Wayne LaPierre and the NRA think that increasing the presence of armed police and security in schools will be good for our children. More disturbing, however, is that Vice President Joe Biden and other key Democrats appear to agree. As reported by the Washington Post, recommendations coming out of the Gun Violence Task Force chaired by Vice President Biden are likely to include support for increasing the presence of police in schools. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer has already proposed raising the allocation for the federal COPS in Schools program, a major source of funding to pay school police salaries.
But as extensive research has shown, such measures don’t make students safer. In fact, they endanger their futures by further greasing the notorious school-to-prison pipeline. Increasing police in schools results, for students, in increased contact with the juvenile justice system, deterioration in academic performance and greater dropout rates.
