During the 2019-2020 school term in the U.S., there were approximately 23,400 school resource officers (SROs). About 11,500 (49%) were employed by local police departments, 7,600 (32%) by sheriff’s offices, and 4,400 (19%) by school district police departments.

The document School Resource Officers, 2019-2020, authored by statistician Elizabeth J. Davis of the U.S. Department of Justice, compiles the results of a series of school-based law enforcement personnel surveys (SLEPS) conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). These surveys had two target populations: police agencies hiring school resource officers and the officers themselves, and were conducted in two phases: first, collecting school data from district police departments, and, nationally, a representative sample of local police departments.
From conducting the survey, Davis reports that about 8 out of 10 SROs are males and 6 out of 10 are white males. There are not many statistically significant differences by agency type in the percentages of male or female SROs.
Of the total SROs, 60% are white males and only 10% are African American males and white females. Hispanic males accounted for 8% and males of other races accounted for about 5%. Finally, they add to the study that only 4% of the total SROs are African American females, 2% are Hispanic females, and less than 1% are females of another race.
Of the total number of police officers assigned to U.S. schools, 10% reported speaking a language other than English and that this had been useful when interacting with students.
What is most alarming about the survey results is that around 69% of SROs responded that they had dealt with an incident in a classroom in the last 30 days. And 54% of these police officers had arrested a student for drug possession in the last year.
Nearly 100% of SROs carry firearms when working at their assigned school during the school year. In addition, all of them have been trained in the use of lethal force and de-escalation strategies at some point in their careers.
In addition, approximately 90% of these police officers have also received training on dealing with juvenile offenders, mental health problems, and conflict resolution.
More than half of all SROs are between 35 and 49 years old and more than a quarter (27%) are 50 or older and 18% are between 18 and 34 years old.
The report was published by the U.S. Office of Justice Programs. The report, related documents and additional information on BJS publications and statistical programs are also available on the official BJS website.
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