In light of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the role and effectiveness of armed police officers—sometimes referred to as SROs (or school resource officers)—on school campuses has again entered the national conversation. But research shows that having armed police officers in schools do not make schools safer, and in fact, can have deleterious effects. The presence of SROs in schools correlates with increased criminalization of school discipline incidents, and disproportionately affects students of color.

We hear from Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank in Washington D.C. about the what happens when you put SROs in schools. 

Then, we speak with Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough, sheriff for Forsyth County in North Carolina, about why he thinks SROs are the answer to addressing school safety.