A disturbing trend has emerged in California—police officers are stationed in schools and are replacing educators as disciplinarians for minor offenses and student behavior issues. Further, on-campus policing often results in over-criminalizing students—mostly low-income students of color—and pushes affected students out of the educational environment and into the school-to-prison pipeline. This increased policing in schools harms school climate and undermines students’ self-esteem by making them feel like suspects and criminals.
Visit the ACLU Northern California website for more resources or download the report below.