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“There were so many unanswered questions, and there wasn’t enough data provided to us to take action...rather than winning a particular vote, what was more important was to have a comprehensive policy that would really make a difference in the lives of our students.” -Delegate Mary Washington, District 43, Baltimore City, quoted from an article in The Baltimore Sun, March 6, 2015 Delegate Mary Washington of Baltimore City made the statement above in response to contention over the decision of Baltimore City’s delegation to the Maryland House of Delegates on March 6, 2015 to table House Bill 101 (H.B. 101, 2015). This legislation would have allowed the Baltimore City School Police Force to carry service weapons in school buildings while classes were in session. The 141 member School Police Force is unique, in that it is the only one in the state of Maryland that is exclusively dedicated to protecting a school district (Cox & Green, 2015). Baltimore City’s school district includes a total of 188 schools and programs, with 28 high schools and approximately 22,341 students in grades 9-12. In light of the decision, on March 31 Baltimore City school officials outlined sweeping changes to how Baltimore’s School Police Force operates, with the largest change being a drastic reduction in the number of schools with assigned officers - from 75, down to 7. Part of the rationale for this decision was to remove officers from patrolling within the school walls to areas outside of the school and promoting safety in the larger community. The debate and discussion that followed these decisions highlighted divergent views about the Baltimore City School Police Force’s role inside schools, as well as the surrounding community, and what policy changes need to be made to align with student needs. The redeployment strategy was announced on April 13, 2015, with community meetings to be held in each city quadrant after the plan’s implementation (Goodwin & Thompson, 2015). While it is unclear at the moment if this redeployment was successfully rolled out and how it was received by each city quadrant, it remains evident that there is a need for more evidence to support future policy decisions. Specifically, more data are needed to understand what role officers should play within the Baltimore City school community. The STUDENT VOICE PROJECT seeks to address a critical element lacking from this current discussion - the voice of students. Consequently, this project involved holding focus groups in high schools across Baltimore City to explore how students perceive the role of and their interactions with police officers, and how that informs their sense of safety and well-being at school and in the community. Results of the research will be shared, through multiple policy influence means, with , youth organizations, policymakers, advocacy groups, and other community stakeholders. The issue of relationships between residents—including students--and police is particularly salient for Baltimore City due to the protests and unrest in late April 2015, following the death of Freddie Gray. These events highlighted a long-standing history of concern regarding police brutality in the city (Puente, 2014). The resulting investigation of police conduct in the Freddie Gray case has contributed to the national debate about law enforcement interactions with citizens, particularly African Americans, the predominant racial/ethnic group in Baltimore City (US Census, 2015). The time is right for concerned community psychologists to become engaged in policy issues involving police-citizen relationships in Baltimore. The STUDENT VOICE PROJECT was comprised of graduate students from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Psychology graduate program conducting these focus groups with high school students in Baltimore City. Our project focused on specifically exploring (1) student perceptions of the roles, interactions, and relationships with the Baltimore City School Police Force in the school setting, (2) how the implementation of current school policing policies differ among the sample of selected schools, (3) how these relations and perspectives on policing differ in schools where police officers do and do not carry firearms or patrol inside the school versus in the outside surrounding areas, (4) how relations between students and police officers in the school appear to translate to youths’ perceptions of police officers in the larger local community, (5) how students perceive the cultural competency of police officers, and (6) alternate routes through which the findings can inform policy relevant to police patrolling and interactions with students. This proposal was developed, in part, as a response to the events and demonstrations in Baltimore City in April 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray. As community and/or clinical psychology students and faculty at UMBC, who feel strongly about contributing our skills and knowledge to the place, in which we grew up, study, and/or currently reside, this research was developed to address a timely, yet long-standing problem in Baltimore, as well as other cities across the United States. The graduate students and faculty, who contributed their time towards this project, represent a diversity of backgrounds in terms of race/ethnicity, age, residence, level in graduate studies, and personal connection to and knowledge of Baltimore City. |