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Student voice project May 2017

High school students Perceptions of the
What is the Student Voice
Baltimore City School Police Force Project? The Student Voice
Project was conducted by graduate
students from the University of
Maryland Baltimore Countys
psychology department. It began in
May 2015, in response to issues of
police brutality, the death of
Freddy Gray, and debates about
the role of school police and
community-law enforcement.
These debates lacked the voice of
students. The goal of our project
was to understand and share
students perspectives on these
issues.

Who participated in the Student Voice Project? A

Were lucky were in a situation
where we have cops who are like
actually doing their jobs and not
being overly aggressivethere are
some cops that are overly aggressive,
like weve seen like a ton of videos
and stuff like police officers beating
kids in school
They take their job just like it's a
joke. But towards kidsthey treat
us like we're adults on the street
that do criminal things. Fighting is
a criminal thing but the way they
take it, like they'll slam you down
or they'll do something like to hurt
you.
total of 83 high school students from Baltimore City public
schools participated in the Student Voice project. Information
about the type of schools is listed in the pie chart.
How did we collect our data? Trained graduate students
conducted focus groups with high school students. Groups
ranged from 2 - 9 students, and the focus groups were audio
recorded and transcribed.

Students opinions of school School police are often viewed as Majority of students thought
police varied positive, protective, and engaged police should not carry guns in
most circumstances

Students with positive perceptions of
school police attributed this to officers
building relationships with students
and aiding in de-escalation of fights or
other conflict between students.
Additionally, they described school
police as protectors who helped to
keep the school safe from violence and
other criminal activity.
Students with negative perceptions
attributed this to school police
attempts to control and/or intimidate
students. Students perceived these
officers as lacking an understanding of
how to interact in a developmentally
appropriate manner.
Students with a neutral perception of
school police indicated that the police
werent great but also werent
bad. These participants had minimal
interactions with school police officers
and believed them to be generally
uninvolved in their lives.
Many students described school police
as positive, protective and engaged.
This view of school police occurred in
schools where the officers had an
active role in getting to know
students outside of incidents (e.g.
not just becoming involved with them
when there is a fight).
There are variations both within
schools and between schools concerning
the role of school police officers. The
police officers that were more
engaged with the students were
more easily able to develop trusting
relationships.
In our school...our police officers are really
cool, and theyll like, talk to you...or theyll walk
into classrooms...theyre friendly. But, dont get me
wrong, when theres a fight, they have to do
their job. They dont have any problem doing
their jobI like our officers
There were different views on whether
or not officers should be allowed to
carry firearms in school. The majority
of students felt that police officers
should not carry guns, and believed it
jeopardized the safety of students and
created an atmosphere of fear and
intimidation.
Some students expressed that police
officers should be allowed to access
guns, but that they should not carry
them in school settings.
Other students, however, felt that
police should carry their weapons
in order to display their authority,
keep the peace among students, and
better enforce the rules.
I feel like if you're dealing with students then
you shouldn't under any circumstance
need a gun.
WHAT ARE POTENTIALLY
Distribution of High School Students
RELEVANT POLICIES?
Citywide
Bills that have been passed in
Maryland General Assembly Innovative
include: 27% 32%
Newest

In 2017, HB052 passed. This bill Vocational Tech

requires the Baltimore City School
17% Zoned
Police (BCSP) Force to report every 10%
two years to the Baltimore City Restructured
Delegation to the General Assembly 4% 7% 3%
about the condition of vehicles and Other
firearms (of the BCPS).

Bills that have been proposed in Other emerging themes

Maryland General Assembly
include:
In 2015, HB101 was proposed. This
bill would authorize school police
officers to carry a weapon on school
premises.
In 2016, HB1632 was proposed. This
bill would allow school police officers
to act in an official capacity for school
discipline only in a situation that poses
an imminent threat of serious harm to
another student or faculty member.
In 2016, HB1296 was proposed. This
bill would require that entrance level
and in-service training for law
enforcement officers include at least
40 hours of community service, which
would include local public schools and
local sports organizations.
School climate shapes
students' perception of the
necessity of school police.
Participants who described attending
schools with high levels of violence
often described the police officers as
having a more active role, so that
students could be protected. In these
contexts, the participants were more
likely to know their school officers (e.g.,
their name, what they were like) and
have a positive view towards them. On
the other hand, students who described
their school climate as relatively
calm had very little to say about the
police in their school, as there were not
many observed interactions between
police and students.
[School police] is only temporary help. I feel
like if they invested the money that they would
to get more police into like rec centers or after
school activitiesthe problem wouldnt
happen in the first place
There is a consistent
distinction made between
school and community
police.
Students consistently viewed police
officers in their community as
aggressive and intimidating, and
emphasized that most youth had a sense of
fear of community police. Youth often
indicated that police in the community do
not view them as youth, but as adults.
Students reported primarily negative
interactions with these officers who they
perceived as inadequately trained to interact
with youth. Whereas students unanimously
viewed community police officers
negatively, the majority of students had
positive or neutral perceptions of school
police officers.
I think its just dislike.with all the police
brutality stuff and people dying, [students]
just assume that [police are] bad. And they
dont do much to change your opinion so they
just dislike the police altogether.

Students recommended several strategies to improve relations

between youth and law-enforcement.

Ideas included: 1) police officers receiving more continuous training (e.g.,

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Studentvoiceproject@umbc.edu
baltimorestudentvoice.weebly.com
every year), 2) training police how to interact with and restrain youth in a
developmentally appropriate way, 3) more comprehensive mental health
screening and evaluations for police officers, and 4) police officers taking
a more active role in building relationships with youth. Some students
proposed that police officers stationed in schools could participate in daily
activities (e.g., afterschool programs, clubs) so that all students are able to see the
police officer as a person.