Since the start of last year, Milwaukee Public Schools have been required to maintain 25 police or school resource officers inside school buildings during school hours. MPS has ignored this state law, known as Act 12, but a judge ruled Thursday that they must comply by Feb. 17.
Proponents of Act 12 argue that school police are necessary to ensure the safety of students, however this is not the case. Data shows that the presence of officers does not decrease instances crime. Instead, it contributes to over-policing in minority communities and wastes tax dollars.
MPS has had officers present in their district between 2005 and 2020, but they terminated their contracts with MPD following concerns about police brutality after the murder of George Floyd.
Police brutality is a reality that people of color in this country have been forced to face. Increasing students’ exposure to officers will only increase fears and anxieties in an environment where they should feel safe to learn and grow.
Ben Fisher, Associate Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was the lead author of a study that reviewed strategies to reduce crime and increase perceptions of safety in schools.
“When we have police in schools, they’re not providing benefits for school safety, they’re not reducing crime, they’re not reducing violence — but they are escalating the punishment of students, especially through things like suspension,” Fisher said in a Q&A about the study.
Milwaukee is a heavily overpoliced city. We have more than 28 officers per 10,000 residents, which is a larger presence than 81% of other departments across the country. We do not need to let our over-policing problem bleed into the classrooms where the consequences can ultimately destroy the futures of hundreds of MPS students.
Fisher warns that we spend way more money on policing than we should, because when we spend taxpayer money on programs, we expect them to be effective.
Act 12 came with zero funding attached, leaving the burden on MPS and the Board. In order to ensure 25 officers are present in schools, the program is estimated to cost at least $2 million a year.
Furthermore, MPS does not have the ability to hire and train officers in the first place.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the lawyers argue: “the Board is entirely dependent on the City to implement the school resource officer program.”
Why should we spend taxpayer funding and city resources on a program that does nothing to benefit the Milwaukee community and only perpetuates systemic racism within our school buildings?
Mayor Cavalier Johnson says he is interested in restoring police presence in schools and he is simply waiting for MPS to comply.
However, Act 12 comes with no penalty for non-compliance, besides the threat of lawsuit, so I urge the mayor to reconsider. Regardless of this judge’s ruling, the city should not uphold Act 12 to keep police out of our public schools.
This story was written by Joseph Schamber. He can be reached at [email protected].
