A Puzzling Resource: Examining the Presence of Sworn Law Enforcement Officers in

Public Schools, Use of Exclusionary Discipline Practices, and Student Racial Composition
Jeremy Prim
University of California, Davis
RESULTS
INTRODUCTION RESULTS
I examine the connection between race and
control in schools with data on the presence of
police and the use of suspensions. Specifically,
Schools with a larger black student
examining whether schools with a higher
concentration of Black students are more likely to
have an officer present on campus, and whether
population are more likely to have a
the presence of a law enforcement officer is
associated with higher than expected suspension
rates. sworn law enforcement officer
present.
METHODS
1. School Survey on Crime Safety (SSOCS)
2003-16 (N=2,535)
2. Longitudinal dataset of public schools who
have been surveyed 2 or more times.
3. Generated change score for: Presence of
Non-Cognitive Predictors of Student Success:
Sworn
Predictors of Officer,
Student Success: Out of School Suspension
A Predictive Validity Comparison Between Domestic and
Having an officer present is
Non-Cognitive
A Predictive Validity Comparison Between Domestic and International Students

Rate, and Racial Composition Variables (Time International Students

2 - Time 1)
4. Multilevel Logistic and Linear Regression

THEORETICAL FRAMING
associated with a higher Figure 3. Descriptive
• Antiblackness exists in different ways Statistics
throughout society and is often exacerbated
through institutions, specifically schools.
suspension rate. Variable
Suspension
Mean
1.417
SD
2.777
• Black students are viewed by education Rate
stakeholders as the problem and a threat to Black Students 14.243 20.883
other racial groups’ ability to learn (Dumas (%)
2011). Metal Detectors .019 .138
Security .718 .450
• Examples of antiblackness in United States
Cameras
public schools ( Desegregation and Safe Contraband .237 .426
Schools Act of 1994). Sweeps
• Growing Culture of Control in schools and Uniforms .099 .298
impact on Black students (Garland 2001; Required
Strict Dress
Simon 2007).
Code .668 .471