Anjali Adukia, Kyung Park: Safety and School Police Presence: Educational, Behavioral, and Crime Outcomes
In recent years, urban public school systems have shifted towards increasing school safety and security by increasing police presence in schools. Using a sudden increase in police presence in schools, we will examine how changes in school police presence influence educational and behavioral outcomes, measured by school participation, achievement, and disciplinary responses. We will examine effects on local safety and crime activity, measured by neighborhood crime data. To understand potential impacts on inequality in outcomes, we will explore differential impacts by student race, gender, and immigrant origin. Furthermore, we seek to understand the general equilibrium effects of school police presence. To answer whether the presence of police in schools improves safety within a school campus and in surrounding neighborhoods, we will analyze the potential displacement, reduction, or amplification effects of school discipline practices on crime outside of the school. We will also examine the long-run effects of exposure to in-school law enforcement on future outcomes such as graduation, post-secondary schooling decisions, crime, and participation in the criminal justice system.
