Handcuffs in hallways: Heightened elementary school arrests prompt calls for better school policing plans
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Fights in school, shootings outside, public outrage at the assault and the attempted rape of a teacher — all of this has heightened calls for more school security and for districts to have police departments of their own and officers patrolling the hallways.
"I would love to say we don't need any police. We do sometimes. I would much rather have our highly-trained school police officers that know our students," Pittsburgh Teachers Union President Nina Esposito-Visgitis said.
At the same time, there's a concern that having police in schools has led to a high number of younger students being arrested for minor infractions — stigmatizing and branding them at an early age — channeling them into what's being called the school-to-prison pipeline.
"They're stereotyped as the bad kid, they get blamed for things that happen in the future whether they're the kid who did it or not," ACLU of Pennsylvania Nationwide Education Equity Coordinator Harold Jordan said.
A CBS News Analysis of U.S. Department of Education Data found hundreds of kids are arrested in elementary schools every year, including as many as 700 in a single year, with Black students arrested disproportionately over white students.
According to that same data, in Pennsylvania, police responded to 971 incidents in a single year and 42 kids were arrested. Fifteen were Black, 13 were white and 11 were Hispanic. Of those arrested, 22 had disabilities. The state ACLU says the arrests disproportionately impact Black and brown youth.
"When it dramatically impacts students with disabilities, Black students and especially Black students with disabilities, there's an extra concern of what it means for a whole class of young people," Jordan said.
A few years back, the Pennsylvania Department of Education flagged the Penn Hills School District for the disproportionate suspensions and arrests of minority students. Since then, Superintendent Nancy Hines has taken a different tack.
"We're looking at the root cause," Hines. "We say that repeatedly. The behavior is offensive. It could be dangerous. But what's the underlying issue? How do we treat that?"
To that end, the district has contracted unarmed youth engagement specialists like Tybre Wright who intercede in fights or with problem students in class.
"Our first thing is always try to defuse the situation first. Talking it out, try to level, try to reason with the students," he said.
Instead of suspending kids, they're sent to the New Directions Center for quiet time in a darkened room or some one-on-one therapy with a counselor on how to deal with their anger and other emotions.
"They can manage their emotions and action and stop and think," said Kyoko Henson, a counselor.
Yet, Penn Hills still sees a need for law enforcement. It has off-duty police officers in each of its schools and has just hired a full-time police chief to maybe hire full-time officers of his own. Hines says the school board approved the move after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
"Mostly they are here to protect us from an armed intruder. If somebody comes in that door, through that window, whatever the point of entity is and they are armed, we want someone with a weapon who can protect the kids and staff," Hines said.
Hines says officers like Josh Martinelli are that line of defense while being personable and non-threatening to the students. But the ACLU argues that statistically, school police haven't thwarted school shooters, and even having kid-friendly officers invariably leads to the over-enforcement of minor discipline.
"There is no need for a standing, full-time police presence, and it has a negative impact. When you place police in schools full time, it's impossible to have them there and not involved with school disciplinary matters," Jordan said.
Correction: A previous version of this report stated that the largest number of elementary school arrests in the KDKA region occurred in the Connellsville, Keystone Oaks and Brownsville Area school districts, based on government data analyzed by CBS News. However, this resulted from a misreading of that data, which showed no elementary school arrests (schools through grade 5) for Keystone Oaks or Brownsville Area. The data showed 3 arrests at two elementary schools (through grade 5) in the Connellsville District.
The data showed school police were called a total of three times at two elementary schools (through grade 5) in the Connellsville District. Connellsville, however, says no student was physically restrained in connection with those incidents. School police said they filed juvenile charges against one student, issued a summons to another and took no action against a third.