ARTICLE TAG

school police

2/16/2021

Historic Board Vote Transforms Policing in Los Angeles Schools

Activists swarmed the headquarters of the Los Angeles Unified School District last summer in an effort to defund the Los Angeles School Police Department. Photo: Jeremy Loudenback
In a historic move, the Los Angeles Unified School District board voted Tuesday to transform its school police force, eliminating more than 100 positions and stationing the remaining officers off campus.

2/15/2021

Los Angeles Unified Explores Alternatives to School Police

Protesters led by Students Deserve, a youth-led group representing LAUSD students, urged the school board to defund its school police department on June 23. Photo: Jeremy Loudenback
More than half a year after voting to slash $25 million from its school police department, the Los Angeles Unified School District board will decide on Tuesday how to use that money to support Black students and promote safety on campus.

12/10/2020

After Abolishing School Police, Oakland Creates a Plan for What Comes Next

Nearly six months after a momentous decision to abolish its school police department, the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education agreed at a meeting Wednesday night to endorse a safety plan that relies on “culture and climate ambassadors” instead of cops.

7/1/2020

In a Victory for Youth Advocates, Los Angeles Cuts School Police Budget by 36%

Despite a bitterly divided school board, the Los Angeles Unified School District voted on Tuesday to strip $25 million from its school police department, after mounting protests have highlighted the experiences of Black students on campus.

6/25/2020

Defunding School Police: In Oakland, an Emphatic Yes; In L.A., Not So Fast

Amid ongoing protests against police brutality and racial injustice, two of California’s largest school districts  this week joined other education leaders across the country pressured to rethink their policing of students.

6/12/2020

In Los Angeles, Demands for Youth Development Take on New Urgency

For young people like Zahria Thomas, schools are too often places where black and brown youth are seen as threats, not as students. When she was 16, the Inglewood resident was arrested at her Los Angeles high school, in front of her classmates, after she responded angrily to a teacher’s racist remark.

    5/21/2017

    Counselors, Not Cops: Advocates Urge LAUSD to Increase Restorative Justice Funding

    In the 2016-17 school year, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) budgeted $67.34 million of its $13.5 billion budget for school police. Restorative justice programming, meant to help improve student behavior and provide alternatives to suspensions, expulsions, and arrests, received only $10.81 million.

    10/26/2016

    Many California Schools Lack Policies for Police Interactions, Report Finds

    California’s schools are quick to call in police for relatively minor offenses, behavioral issues or classroom disruptions, according to a report released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California.