School-based law enforcement use is associated with greater crime and behavior problems in studies using schools as the unit of analysis¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In the review's meta-analysis, school-level crime and behavior outcomes showed a small positive pooled effect (g = 0.09, p = 0.023), meaning schools with SBLE had more crime and behavior problems. → Fisher 2023

Evidence¶

Fisher 2023¶

Fisher, B. W., Petrosino, A., Persson, H., Guckenburg, S., Fronius, T., Benitez, I., & Earl, K. (2023). School‐based law enforcement strategies to reduce crime, increase perceptions of safety, and improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary schools: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 19, e1360. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1360

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3

Robust variance estimation meta-analysis of 520 school-level effect sizes from 27 reports (Table 2). The weighted mean effect size was "School‐level 0.09" with p = 0.023 and 95% CI [0.01, 0.16], indicating more crime and behavior problems where SBLE was present.

"Crime and behavior outcomes Overall School‐level 0.09 0.04 0.023 0.01 0.16 0.08 95.88 27 520"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• SBLE is associated with higher exclusionary discipline rates, with no detectable improvements to school crime or violence — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Student-level analyses find no statistically significant association between SBLE and crime or behavior outcomes, from only four reports — reports the opposite
• Review findings are consistent across study design features; no moderator showed meaningful relationships — related
• SBLE shows no beneficial effects on learning outcomes or other analyzed outcomes — related
• The SBLE evidence base contains no randomized experiments and carries high risk of bias — related
• Common non-curricular policing strategies show no overall effects on measures of school crime or discipline — reports the opposite
• School-based law enforcement is not associated with statistically significant changes in students' perceptions of safety at school — related
• National school crime indicators show schools became safer as exclusionary discipline reductions were underway, with 79% of schools recording incidents in 2015-16 versus 85-89% in prior years — related
• SBLE presence is associated with higher levels of school crime and behavior incidents, driven by increased exclusionary discipline, in school-level analyses — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• SBLE shows no statistically significant association with criminal justice contact, violence, substance-related, or weapon-related outcomes — related
• Student-level analyses likewise show higher exclusionary discipline under SBLE with no differences in other crime and behavior outcomes — related
• Students in schools with SBLE tended to feel safer, but this finding rests on very little data — related
• SBLE presence is unrelated to learning outcomes including achievement, proficiency, and attendance — related