Schools or Prisons?

-- By DianaAvila - 26 Mar 2025

Introduction

Growing up, a unique, but common aspect of a community like mine was the policing that occurred within our schools. Police officers and sheriffs roamed our hallways, this wasn’t something usual. Matter of fact, it was so normalized that we knew the names of the police officers who rotated in and out. The officers on campus conducted sweeps, had K-9s on campus, and arrested students on site. This was all very perplexing to me because the way they presented themselves to us was more a staff role, rather than law enforcement. I still remember the first sweep I experienced. One day we were in class learning whatever the subject was, the next there were police officers telling us to leave all of our belongings in the classroom. This was only one of the many lived experiences where I saw how the school to prison pipeline hindered our success.

Fourth Amendment in Schools

This came to mind when we discussed all the layers of the Fourth Amendment and the protections that are meant to come with it. The focus of a lot of it is on adults, arrests in areas other than schools, etc. Which to me, leaves one of the most vulnerable communities to fend for themselves, if even that. One thing about all of this that is very daunting to me is that law enforcement is usually held to a probable cause standard unless very pressing circumstances are present that would make reasonable suspicion permissible. Yet, when it comes to a school setting, the standard is probable cause. The case law that is the basis for this is T.L.O v. New Jersey. Here the court discusses the need to protect schools and puts it on a balancing scale against the expectation of privacy of students. The court argued that the officers served as school officials which made the reasonable suspicion permissible and the standard expectation of privacy was not to be expected in school settings. However, this presents to be worrisome because it was evident that these “officials” were in fact officers through training and experience. The dialogue of whether SROs are staff or officers is the reason why many courts are split on what standard to hold them to.

Reasonable Suspicion vs Probable Cause?

From my perspective, reasonable suspicion is too risky and broad given that it can be rooted in suspicion, observation, speculation, and sometimes even a hunch. This allows a lot of room for interpretation amongst SROs, space that can be affected by external/internal factors like implicit racial bias. Therefore, how does a “suspicion” remain neutral? The criminal system is already a pervasive issue in communities of color from the lack of resources and criminalization these communities undergo. Which inherently means that the children of these communities are not only under attack in their communities, but at their schools which are oftentimes seen as one of the only protective layers they have. School resource officers (law enforcement) play a key role in changing the lives of these students through the school to prison pipeline. There have been studies where these officers admit that they see students of color as the threat and are concerned more about what goes on inside the school. Whereas with their white counterparts, the threats are seen as external – what goes on outside of the schools. (Benjamin W Fisher et al., Protecting the Flock or Policing the Sheep? Differences in School Resource Officers’ Perceptions of Threats by School Racial Composition, 69 Sᴏᴄ. Pʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍs 316, 316 (2022)).There is also research that shows that students of color receive harsher punishments for the same “disruptive” behavior their white counterparts display. (Olivia Seksinsky, Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Reforming the Role of the School Resource Officer, 24 Rɪᴄʜ. Pᴜʙ. Iɴᴛ. L. Rᴇᴠ. 141-142 (2021)).

To me, having a probable cause standard creates not only uniformity, but has the potential to reduce the harm done to this particular group of students. In K.S. v. State, we see the effect of a probable cause standard. Here the SRO had an actual factual basis that supported the arrest. The court stated that probable cause are “terms of facts and circumstances sufficient to warrant a prudent man in believing that the suspect had committed or was committing an offense.” Not just a hunch. In the current state we’re in, SROs should not be viewed as school officials because they do not receive specialized training nor is there any required training to ensure they are equipped to handle school matters. Their governing office sees them as law enforcement. Therefore, not holding them to probable cause is bewildering. In any setting, basing a search on a reasonable suspicion presents a clear opportunity to violate the privacy of one’s body, home, etc. In the case of schools, it is understandable why there might be a lower expectation of privacy, but a baseless search is dangerous. In a perfect world, it would apply equally across the board, but as mentioned, students of color are the most vulnerable.

Conclusion

In People v. Dilworth’s dissent it states “cannot agree with the majority that a police officer whose self-stated primary duty is to investigate and prevent criminal activity may search a student on school ground on a lesser fourth amendment standard than probable cause merely because the police officer is permanently assigned to the school and is listed in the student handbook as a member of the school staff.” And this is something that many should keep in mind. A lower standard in combination with the implicit bias many officers on school campuses carry, create an unsafe environment for students. Proponents of SROs believe they serve the purpose of minimizing crime and building positive relationships with students. The truth is, that is not the reality for this particular group of students. Their identities put them at risk and may be decisive for what their future may look like. Many try to argue that SROs are needed to prevent incidents like school shootings, but we have often seen how this is not the reality.

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