CRIME PREVENTION IN SCHOOLS.   Term Paper ID:24169 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Reasons for & constitutionality of searches, probable cause, seizures & random testing, court cases, role of police.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Reasons for & constitutionality of searches, probable cause, seizures & random testing, court cases, role of police. Paper Introduction: Police have increasingly been called into the public educational setting to insure the safety of high school campuses. Many school districts have their own police departments, or "school police," who head security departments on campus. Their credibility as police officers helps to insure a safe environment in which learning can take place. Drugs, weapons, on-campus brawls, and traffic problems are less likely when students see that the full force of the law is at hand. Background information on school police in some communities will provide an introduction to what many believe is the best solution to crime in today's high schools. At the same time, however, issues of search/seizure, random drug testing, locker searches, and strip searching have been brought to the forefront by the advent of tightened security measures and an increase in crime. The Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The case involved agirl (T.L.O.) who was discovered smoking in the school lavatory (breaking aschool rule). In 1991-1992, in Prince George's County Public Schools, in UpperMarlboro, Maryland, a project called S.A.F.E. Works Cited"Strip Search in Schools: Beyond the Boundaries of the Law."Clearing House 68.5 (May/June 1995): 275-277.Jenkinson, Michael. Backgroundinformation on school police in some communities will provide anintroduction to what many believe is the best solution to crime in today'shigh schools. In T.L.O.'s casea strip search was not conducted; she simply emptied out the contents ofher purse. One final note about random drug testing is necessary. Administrators who choose to do such searches open themselves up tolitigation there is not a reasonable assurance that a strip search isnecessary, the student is found innocent, an overly intrusive search methodis used. (Schools Against FearfulEnvironments) has been successful. 1993): 4 -43.----------------------- 9 Essentially, the SupremeCourt has reiterated that students possess Fourth Amendment protectionagainst unreasonable searches and seizures, while at the same time allowinga search that is, in fact, reasonable. Again, if the schools are a microcosm of thelarger society, the nation's "war on drugs" is going to be reflected inpublic school policy as well. The Court further noted that a search by school officials need notadhere to the probable cause standard invoked when the student has violatedor is violating the laws; instead, school officials must adhere to thejustification for reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search willturn up evidence verifying that a rule or law has been broken. Police are permitted to come on to a school campus at any time toengage in official police business. A search that would beconsidered "unreasonable" for one student, therefore, might be considered"reasonable" for another. Clearly, smoking is not probable cause that astudent is using and selling drugs, but, in this scenario, the SupremeCourt decided that "the rules of the school" (smoking in the lavatory) werereason enough to bypass the "probable cause" part of the Fourth Amendment. However, exceptin an emergency, police cannot conduct a search on school grounds without awarrant. Canada is not without its share of public school violence, althoughmajor U.S. Finally, with regard to police in the schools, school officials canask police to come to a high school to carry out a search. Students have to rely on backpacks. The Spring Independent SchoolDistrict's (S.I.S.D.) police department in Houston, Texas, is one exampleof a public school system which is making changes in its security forces byadding more personnel, upgrading security systems, and adding armedofficers. "'Reasonableness': The High Court's New Standard forCases Involving Student Rights.'" Phi Delta Kappan (Apr. One of the main benefits to a school district of having its ownpolice department is that "every school call is a priority call" (Rotondo4 ). In addition, Rotondo quotes Officer Bragg as saying that the level ofrespect for authority has risen since armed and uniformed officers haveappeared on campus. This question was unanswered by the literaturesurveyed, but a police officer, acting as a school employee, would probablybe justified (under the law as it has been interpreted) in searching astudent. The National Alliance for Safe Schools (NASS), the not-for-profitresearch, training, and technical assistance arm of the nationalAssociation of School Security Directors, says a school's policies oftenaffect its crime statistics. On this basis, she was brought to the vice-principal'soffice and ordered to empty out her purse. T.L.O.). "Walking Education's Mean Streets to Curb SchoolCrime." Education Digest 58.6 (Feb. At the same time, however, issues of search/seizure, randomdrug testing, locker searches, and strip searching have been brought to theforefront by the advent of tightened security measures and an increase incrime. If school districts, and public school asinstitutions, are microcosms of the real world of the 199 s, this kind ofauthoritarian presence on campus should not prove surprising; however, forothers, added police presence is a grim reminder of how much society haschanged--for the worse. By allying themselves with police departments, school administratorshave bolstered their own efforts at providing safe schools; the police, byallying themselves with school administrators in a school setting, somewhatbroaden their ability to search and seize. If a school is a microcosm of the community in which it is located,districts must take a systemic, holistic approach to student violence, orso runs the logic of those districts with police departments. They don't even need tosuspect a student of committing an actual crime--a suspicion of breaking aschool rule can be enough (New Jersey v. NASS conducts school security assessments ofpolicy and procedures, as well as physical security. T.L.O.) Teachers and school administrators, therefore, need much less reasonto search than the police need. Increased drug use and violence in the public schools have promptedschool administrators to implement policies and procedures to combatundesirable student behaviors. Public pressure has led school officials toconduct searches of lockers and personal property with greater frequency.Many principals have even resorted to the use of strip searches when theybelieve they are necessary--and reasonable. The Fourth Amendment says the following: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable [emphasis added] searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. Security on a high school campus would giveadministrators some "breathing room" with regard to imminent litigation. She was carrying cigarettes,rolling papers, drug-related paraphernalia, a substantial amount of money,a list of students who owed her money, and two letters which implicated herin marijuana dealing. Peter Blauvelt, director of thedistrict security services department, said the following: "We've had twoattempted homicides, a 2 % increase in firearms possessions, and a 94%increase in knife possessions, and, invariably, students who have had theirweapons confiscated say they were carrying them for protection" (Rotondo4 ). Many schooldistricts have their own police departments, or "school police," who headsecurity departments on campus. is the lead case onsearch and seizure, as decided by the Supreme Court. Even if parents argueagainst the constitutionality of random drug testing, school districts canattain the moral high ground by arguing that they are only trying to insurethe personal physical safety of athletes. T.L.O. Drugs,weapons, on-campus brawls, and traffic problems are less likely whenstudents see that the full force of the law is at hand. By 1993, 1 police officerswere already stationed in Edmonton's 13 high schools. Two officers are stationed outside each of the district'stwo high schools to direct traffic and maintain parking, traffic flow, andsecurity outside. New York, bycontrast, employs 3, uniformed security guards to patrol its 1, schools, where a significant part of their job is to seize weapons(Jenkinson 33). Part of the officers' salaries is funded by the annualparking fee paid by students who drive to school. In addition,many districts are adding police departments so that they can legitimizecalling themselves "safe schools." In California, as one example, schoolsget additional state funding if they can show themselves to be "safe":"drug-free, weapons-free," and so forth. We alsoprovide suggestions about how to reach those goals." Schooladministrators, by allying themselves with police departments and on-campussecurity teams, can diffuse some of the responsibility for search andseizure, as one example. Some courts say that school officials are free to open them up andlook inside anytime they want. The constitutionality of the above issues will be discussed, andsome relevant court cases will be examined. The "probable cause" provision isnot as much of an issue in the public high school setting. The Clearing House article cited above tells a cautionary taleabout six boys who were strip searched and later found innocent; the boysreceived damages of $5 , apiece (275-277). Actually, the backpack is amuch more secure place to store contraband than the school locker because asearch of a student's backpack is a greater violation of one's physicalperson--however, when one considers what happened to T.L.O., one has toreconsider because she was forced to empty the contents of her purse. At issue was a drug testing program in a small Oregon schooldistrict. Their credibility as police officers helpsto insure a safe environment in which learning can take place. cities are still much more violent. 1988): 59 .Rotondo, Diane M. In addition, they can consider "all thecircumstances." This presumably means they can consider such things as astudent's past record and class behavior. Other courts disagree. "Abandoning the Schools to the Kids." AlbertaReport 2 .9 (5 July 1993: 33.Rose, Lowell. Many schools arecircumventing the issue by removing lockers from their buildings orcampuses. In a landmark case known as New Jersey v. Most reasonable citizens are willing to turn security overto responsible "other forces," as in the cases of weapons and on-campusfights; however, what about those other "thornier" issues plaguing today'sschools, such as the issues of random drug testing and random lockersearches? Reasonablesuspicion does not demand absolute knowledge by school officials but rathera belief of wrongdoing. The case referred to as New Jersey v. TheSupreme Court has yet to rule on this issue. Even so, as one articlesurveying the issue points out, "As effective as these practices may seemto be, the administrator risks great legal jeopardy by carrying them out"(Clearing House 275). Part of this money could gotoward providing on-campus police. The search can not be overly intrusive, however,or the Court might still weigh in favor of the defendant. Rotondo (4 ) quotes Alan Bragg, SISD chief of police, as saying,"Police departments for school districts are really becoming a nationwidetrend." At SISD, the department has grown from one officer to 11 since itbegan in 1991. School officials don't need "probablecause." They need only show that the search is "reasonable," considering"all the circumstances" involved (Rose 59 ). Rotondo (41) quotesNASS Executive Director Robert Rubel: "Our ultimate goal is to helpdistrict administrators recognize the range of their current problems, andalso to articulate their longer-term goals for safe schools. A few courts have even upheld sweepingsearches of lockers throughout the school. T.L.O., the Supreme Courtruled that the Fourth Amendment does apply in school--but not in the sameway that it applies everywhere else. Justice Scalia ruledthat the issue of an athlete's personal privacy is not an issue becauseathletes "submit to physical exams and already put up with communal undressin school locker rooms." In short, students do not have rights under theConstitution equal to those of adults, and conservative Supreme Courtjustices will continue to issue conservative decisions. A student's parents took the district to court after their sonrefused to take a random drug test to play on the football team, claimingit was an unconstitutional search.The Court said that its ruling was based on the two-fold desire, to protectathletes from physical injury and to thwart what it called an "epidemic ofdrug use." Justice Scalia also noted that athletes who use drugs send amore damaging message to other students (than do non-athlete drug-takingstudents because of the athletes' role model status. When police are employed in a 5 percent-5 percent school district-city capacity, can they do searcheswithout a warrant? With regard to locker searches, state and federal courts differ onhow much privacy--if any--students can expect concerning their lockers anddesks. Police have increasingly been called into the public educationalsetting to insure the safety of high school campuses. The Court's 6-3 vote said that mandatory drug testing did notviolate the constitutional privacy of students, who, in a high schoolsetting, have relatively few rights compared to adults, especially giventhe nation's drug crisis. The issue ofdegree of "invasiveness of the search" is relevant here, as in all suchcases, especially where young people are involved. And such a search will be permissible in its scope when the measures adopted are not excessively intrusive in light of the student's age and sex and the nature of the infraction (New Jersey v. The reason that "probable cause" was not mentioned in the list ofthree things for administrators to be wary of is that young people do notreceive the same degree of protection under the law by virtue of theirstatus as students in a public school setting. In the Supreme Court's own words, here is how the Court determined"reasonableness" by inquiring in a twofold manner: Under ordinary circumstances, the search of a student by a school official will be justified at its inception where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school [emphasis added]. In what was hailed as a landmark decision (June 26, 1995), theSupreme Court ruled that public high schools and middle schools can forcestudent athletes to submit to drug tests--even if they are not suspected ofdrug use. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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