Listen to Students - Remove Student Resource Officers
A Beaverton High School student argues that students deserve more influence over decisions about School Resource Officers (SROs).
Students want to be safe when they go to school. School Resource Officers (SROs), police officers stationed at schools throughout the day, do not foster a feeling of safety. While a police response is important in times of crisis, permanent postings of SROs in schools can have negative impacts and should be carefully considered. Portland, Eugene, and other major Oregon school districts have already eliminated SROs. The Beaverton School District (BSD) is taking its time — a long time — to make and declare a decision.
For some students, police symbolize safety. For other students, an armed police officer is the epitome of danger and hostility. School and student safety are not dependent on SROs. Both the monetary and emotional costs of an SRO presence in BSD outweigh the benefits.
Last month, Beaverton High School went into a lockout, now referred to as a “secure.” As the automated voice rang through the building, a chill shot up my spine. This was not a drill. A “secure” means that someone dangerous is outside the school doors, and we have to keep them out. I sat in my home room, while curtains were quickly drawn and the door was hurriedly locked. During the alert, my classmates and I waited in an anxious silence for the “secure” to end.
The moment the automated voice declared the “secure” over and before students and staff could breathe a sigh of relief, the fire alarm began ringing. After being told that something dangerous is outside, it is concerning that the fire alarm was engaged, potentially drawing everyone right into the arms of hazard.
As I walked with my classmates onto the field, a student ran over to us, describing a man wielding a knife across the street from the main building right before the school entered “secure.” In some past school shooting incidents, the shooters pulled fire alarms to cause students to leave their buildings. I looked around for Beaverton High’s SRO, a Beaverton Police Officer specially trained to communicate and interact with teens.
Our SRO did not stop this violence from occurring nor play a substantial role in mitigating it. No evidence has shown that SROs in Beaverton have effectively stopped school shootings or reduced student crime in schools. SROs, however, do contribute to a general feeling of unease among the students I’ve met with. According to a survey I sent out through Student Leadership to BHS students, an overwhelming number of the 361 respondents said that they “had never really interacted” with SROs. Even more, their daily presence is harmful to some students. Survey responses from students described the SRO presence as “intimidating” and “uncomfortable.” If SROs aren’t reducing violence and only add to fear, then why perpetuate their presence?
These incidents occurred at Beaverton High in the first three months of the school year. They also involved additional support from Beaverton Police. For more than a year, I have advocated to the Beaverton School District and to the City of Beaverton to remove armed police officers from permanent stations in our public schools. Police should serve schools when necessary in specific incidents, but may not need to be based in schools every day.
It’s important to remember that school districts serve students. Student voices must be considered when addressing SROs - if we’re left on the sidelines, then a significantly impacted group will be excluded from the conversation. In May 2021, I organized and co-moderated a conversation between students and law enforcement representatives through the Beaverton School District Advisory Committee. After BSD students asked questions to SROs, some students were unsure of the justification of the police presence. Students have a variety of adults to turn to: counselors, trusted teachers, and BHS even has a ‘student manager’, the SRO is not necessary — they do not handle emergency situations and only escalate minor incidents.
When I spoke with a BHS affinity group, a student said that they did not know what an SRO was. If not harmful and anxiety-inducing, the SRO’s presence may, at best, have no positive effect. This is the opposite of the relationship aspect that supporters of SROs raise, claiming that SROs can develop close ties with the students most likely to feel unsafe. For some students, it is difficult to build trusting relationships if it entails initiating conversation with an armed police officer.
As a student, I am frustrated with Beaverton’s delayed action on making a decision about SROs. Other districts, like Eugene and Portland, have already removed SROs. Here in Beaverton, the BSD is in the process of hiring a SRO consultant to provide a recommendation plan to the school board by June 2022. The SRO consultant has yet to be announced. BSD, in partnership with the City of Beaverton and multiple law enforcement agencies, has engaged in discussions for more than a year about the presence of SROs. This delay is unacceptable and unnecessary.
The first step towards building trusting relationships is trusting students. Listen to students across Oregon speaking up — through petitions at Gresham High School and through conversations across the state. Students need and deserve to feel safe when they walk through school doors every day. Students are done waiting. Remove SROs.
A senior at Beaverton High School, Beatrice is passionate about spreading student voices. She is the founder and editor of the Beaverton Hummer Newspaper club. Beatrice is Co-President of the Beaverton Student Advisory Committee.
Photo credit: "Beaverton Police" by K. Kendall is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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