Leveraging School Police to Reduce Youth Violence in Baltimore City High Schools

Introduction:

Many urban schools are challenged by youth violence; nationally, 74% of public schools reported one or more incidents of violent crime on school grounds in 2013. Concerns about youth violence are compounded in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), an urban school district with a high concentration of students and families of color living in under-resourced neighborhoods. BCPS is unique in that it is the only school district in the state that retains its own school police force. According to state law, Baltimore City School Police Force (BCSPF) officers have all the powers of any police officer in the State of Maryland. As tensions in Baltimore City have heightened in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray, there has been an unprecedented spike in the rates of homicides within the community, many of which are in close proximity to City Schools. Unfortunately, data collected even before these events occurred indicated that 80% of Baltimore youth had little or no trust in the police, highlighting some of the barriers that need to be overcome to ensure students and families can benefit from the support of BCSPF officers.

Method:

This session will present an overview of a recently funded National Institute of Justice grant to a school system-university-mental health partnership which will provide training to the BCSPF. Training will focus on 3 core research-based approaches: (1) Mental Health First Aid and trauma-informed intervention, (2) threat assessment and related de-escalation techniques; and (3) urban adolescent developmental and cultural sensitivity.  In addition, video surveillance technology footage will be utilized throughout the police training to promote data-informed decision-making in crisis situations and model exemplary responses. These supports for police are embedded within a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT) which tests the impact of a preventive mental health program (i.e., Coping Power) among 600 BCPS 9^th graders. BCSPF officers will engage in select Coping Power sessions to promote positive relationships with students and reduce stigma associated with reporting incidents to police.

Results: We will present preliminary findings from the baseline assessments of the BCSPF and lessons learned from the launch of this timely project.  Findings will be discussed in light of the broader social and cultural context in Baltimore City.

Conclusions:

This project is intended to fill an important gap in the literature regarding the engagement in school police within urban schools to prevent youth violence. These efforts are also intended to address the increasing racial tensions emerging within BCPS and the broader Baltimore City community.