Equity in law enforcement actions following a school threat assessment
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) in schools, involving law enforcement, resulted in low arrest rates and equitable outcomes for students regardless of race, income, or disability. This supports the safe and fair use of BTAM teams.
Area Of Science
- Educational Psychology
- Criminology
- Public Health
Background
- Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) is a violence risk assessment strategy implemented in U.S. schools.
- Concerns exist regarding potential criminalization of student misbehavior and exacerbated disparities for students of color and those with disabilities due to law enforcement involvement in BTAM.
- Existing research on law enforcement actions within school-based threat assessment is limited.
Purpose Of The Study
- To investigate the prevalence and disparities of school-based law enforcement actions (arrests, court charges, incarcerations) among students undergoing threat assessment.
- To evaluate the association between student characteristics (race/ethnicity, income, disability) and law enforcement actions within the BTAM framework.
- To examine the influence of school-level factors and student-level threat classifications on law enforcement involvement.
Main Methods
- A quantitative study analyzing data from 18,411 Florida students across 1,646 schools who received a threat assessment using the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.
- Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models were employed to assess variations in law enforcement actions.
- Student-level regressors included demographics and threat classification; school-level characteristics were also considered.
Main Results
- Approximately 1% of students involved in threat assessments experienced a law enforcement action.
- Law enforcement actions were primarily associated with student grade level and the seriousness of the assessed threat.
- No significant disparities in law enforcement actions were found based on student race/ethnicity, family income, or disability status.
Conclusions
- The findings indicate that school-based threat assessment teams involving law enforcement officers do not necessarily lead to high rates of arrests or inequitable outcomes.
- Results align with previous studies, suggesting that BTAM, when implemented with officers, can be applied equitably across diverse student populations.
- This study contributes evidence to the ongoing policy discussions regarding the role and impact of law enforcement in school safety and threat assessment.
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