Each year, there are more than 3,000 law enforcement incidents in Arkansas schools. The majority of children involved in these incidents are arrested for nonviolent offenses. This is a nationwide trend, and Arkansas is no different. Across the country, millions of students are being removed from their classrooms each year for minor misconduct – fueling the school-to-prison pipeline. Behavior that used to put students in the principal’s office can now land them in the back of a police cruiser.

A new report by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) looks at school-based arrests across the state in 2013 and 2014. The total number of arrests has increased by 13 percent since 2011. Of particular concern is how school policing disproportionately impacts students of color. African Americans comprise 21 percent of the K-12 student population and 57 percent of the students arrested at schools.

For vulnerable and high-need children, getting arrested adds yet another risk factor to their life and further erodes their future opportunities. Students who are pushed out of school and into the juvenile justice system face increased risk of chronic absenteeism, failing classes, dropping out, abusing drugs and alcohol, being arrested again, and longer-term incarceration.

“This is why it’s particularly important for educators to continue to explore ways to address student misconduct without the involvement of police” says Paul Kelly, a senior policy analyst at AACF. “We really need to reduce school-based arrests in Arkansas. There are other ways of disciplining kids that are much more effective.”

According to the report, using alternative disciplinary strategies that focus on positive reinforcement and restorative justice have been shown to reduce police involvement by 68 percent and out of school suspensions by nearly 40 percent in some districts.

The report offers recommendations, including:

• Appointing a state task force to review existing district discipline policies, especially when it comes to simple assault and intimidation.
• Training off-campus officers and providing guidance on how to respond to students, along with information on alternatives to arrest.
• Creating detailed, written memorandums of understanding for schools that outline sources of funding and qualifications for school resource officers (SROs).
• Expanding the use of preventative measures to reduce school misconduct.
• Keeping students in the classroom using models of restorative justice as an alternative to zero tolerance policies and law enforcement interventions.

Requiring law enforcement agencies to report arrests made on school grounds so that greater research on this topic may be done.