Common Sense and School Security Tribune columnist Joe Henderson, normally a source of intelligent commentary, recently argued

that an incident where a nine year old took a 22 caliber derringer to school justified the expenditure of over $4.5 million annually to place armed School Resource Officers (SROs) in all of Hillsborough Countys elementary schools. In the emotionally charged atmosphere surrounding the murders at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, rational decision making is difficult. Our community naturally want to prevent additional tragedies, but it is important to avoid bad decisions especially ones that have unintended but easily foreseeable consequences. Last spring, Michael Dorn, Hillsborough County School District consultant, recommended hiring the additional SROs. He told the School Board that it was remarkable that a system of our size had never had an intentional campus shooting. In reality, school shooting incidents, though tragic and horrific, are extremely rare. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, we have about 132,000 public and private K-12 schools and 6,700 postsecondary schools. Since 2000, just 6/100ths of 1 percent of our schools experienced a shooting incident. Media coverage of tragic events amplifies and distorts the publics perception of the actual danger. We should be careful when applying a cost-benefit analysis when the safety of our children is involved; however, using a single incident involving a nine-year old and a derringer to justify a $4.5M annual expenditure for additional elementary schools SROs is simply illogical. The unfortunate truth is that no amount of additional spending can guarantee that shooting incidents will not occur. There is little evidence that the presence of armed SROs will deter them. Most incidents occurred in high schools and post-secondary schools where SROs or campus police forces are likely to be present. SROs at Columbine and campus police at Virginia Tech did not prevent those tragedies. There are, however, negative consequences associated with placing additional police officers in public schools. The presence of SROs contributes to the growth of a School-to-Prison Pipeline. SROs, understandably, take a law-enforcement approach to school discipline. Problems once resolved in the principals office often end up in the juvenile justice system. The Florida Justice Policy Institute reported that - during FY 2011 - 2012 Florida schools referred almost 14,000 students to the juvenile justice system 1,046 were from Hillsborough

County. Nation-wide, schools with SROs have nearly five times the rate of arrests for disorderly conduct as schools without them. Black, Hispanic and special needs children disproportionately end up in the pipeline an experience that ruins many young lives. Information provided to the ACLU by the school system, indicates that last year, of incidents resulting in arrests, 48% involved blacks, 25% Hispanics, 5% mixed race, and 21% whites. Black and Hispanic students also experience disproportionate rates of in and out of school suspensions. Georgia Juvenile Court Judge Steve Teske notes that kids are wired to do stupid things. They are a work in progress, but students with arrest records are stigmatized and frequently experience lasting harm. An early conviction may haunt them for life. A conviction will limit their ability to find a job, a place to live, go to college, and the loss of their right to vote. SROs frequently deprive students of basic rights. Students are frequently interviewed without their parents or without being informed that they have the right to remain silent and consult an attorney. Students may not understand that confiding in a friendly police officer could have serious consequences. There are numerous reports of students being handcuffed, tased, or pepper-sprayed by SROs who exercise poor judgment. If we are to have police in our schools they need special training in adolescent development, crisis intervention and fostering positive relationships with students. However, an increased law enforcement presence does nothing to address the underlying causes of incidents that result in disciplinary action. The vast majority of disciplinary infractions occur in the classroom suggesting that programs to improve the in-class dynamics between students and teachers would be a wiser investment of scarce resources. The School Board should reject placing SROs in all elementary schools and instead fix a system in which racial and ethnic minorities are over-disciplined and in which they underperform. The Board should adopt policies that, in Judge Teskes words, focus on arresting kids that scare us, not the kids who make us mad.

Mike Pheneger, The author is a retired Army Colonel and President of the ACLU of Florida