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On Feb. 22, with the support of Mayor Johnson, Chicago’s Board Of Education unanimously decided to remove police officers from Chicago Public Schools. According to the resolution passed by the Board Of Education, “the policy must make explicit that the use of SROs within district schools will end by the start of the 2024-2025 school year.”
Johnson voiced his approval of this new initiative. He stated in an article from the Chicago Sun-Times that “The Board of Education is moving in the direction that I do support,”. He permitted the Board to end its $10.3 million contract with the Chicago Police Department, though the two offices will maintain a relationship.
The officers in these schools are labeled student resource officers (SROs) and are often off-duty police officers who work full-time or part-time in public schools. They are sworn officers who have full arrest powers, and according to federal data, 91% of them carry guns. Their duties include enforcing the law within the school community, as well as mentoring and counseling students.
Since 1966, police officers have served as security for Chicago Public Schools, though they have come under fire in recent years for the disproportionate policing of African-American students.
The Chicago Sun-Times found in 2020 that students who attend schools with officers in them were “four times more likely to have the police called on them than kids at high schools that don’t have in-house cops.” Many activist groups have used these statistics as the basis of anti-police protests, and consider policing as a danger to the welfare of students.
Since the “Black Lives Matter” protests, dozens of schools have called for the removal of SROs for the safety of students, and the long-term prosperity of their community. Some schools have found value in alternatives before this resolution, such as emotional learning programs and programs within schools that encourage and reward positive behavior.
CPS gave several schools in 2020 money to create “whole safety plans” that focus on healing students’ trauma and de-escalating stressful situations without police intervention.
The Board Of Education is expected to maintain its relationship with the mayor’s office and the Chicago Police Department during the arrival and dismissal of students.