DES MOINES, IA — An American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa report released Thursday says Black students and students with disabilities are more likely to be referred to law enforcement or arrested in Iowa schools that have school resource officers. The group said the data point to unequal treatment and to school discipline being handed over to police for matters that could be handled by staff.
The report draws on the 2021-22 school year and information gathered from open records requests to Iowa districts and law enforcement agencies. It comes as more schools in the state use school resource officers, even as supporters and critics continue to disagree over whether those officers improve safety.
What The Data Show
According to the report, Black students made up 7% of Iowa’s student population but accounted for 13% of referrals and 21% of arrests involving school resource officers. Students with disabilities made up 13% of students statewide but were tied to 27% of referrals and 26% of arrests.
ACLU legal fellow Jacob Sarasin said those numbers mean students with disabilities were referred or arrested at about 2.3 times the rate of students without disabilities, while Black students were referred or arrested at nearly four times the rate of students who are not Black. He said the gaps are especially troubling because national research does not show Black students misbehaving at higher rates than other students.
Concerns About School Policing
The ACLU argues that placing sworn officers in schools can turn ordinary discipline issues into criminal cases. The report says incidents involving vaping, disrespect in class, or rumors about another student were among the kinds of problems that did not need an armed officer’s response.
Rita Bettis Austen, the group’s legal director, said those outcomes fit the pattern of the “school-to-prison pipeline,” where school discipline can lead to juvenile or adult court involvement. She said that process can leave children with trauma, stigma, and long-term harm well beyond the original incident.
What Schools Are Doing
The report also noted several examples of school resource officers being called in for elementary school incidents, including behavior problems involving very young children. In one case, the report cited a 6-year-old who was said to be trying to destroy a classroom, and in another, a 10-year-old in Pella involved in a dispute over a ball and a climbing net.
The ACLU recommended that Iowa schools end school resource officer programs, pointing to districts such as Des Moines Public Schools and Ames Community School District that have already done so. For schools that keep officers, the group urged stronger training, closer oversight, and clearer rules on when school staff should handle a problem instead of law enforcement.
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