Now is the time for Pittsburgh Public Schools to stop using police to manage children in their
schools. In light of the continued police killing of unarmed African-American citizens in this
country, there is no justification for continuing to have police officers or other quasi-law
enforcement security forces patrolling the school buildings of this city’s children. According to a
recent study from the University of Michigan, Rutgers University and Washington University,
death by police officer is a leading cause of death for young black men in the United States of
America. 100 in 100,000 black boys and men will be killed by police. It is past time to replace
school police with restorative practices for the purpose of child learning and growth.
Since the extrajudicial killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police, board members from
Minneapolis Public Schools have terminated the District’s contract with the Minneapolis Police
Department to act as so-called school resource officers in its building. It is reported that school
board members from school districts in Arizona, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and other states
have reached out to Minneapolis for guidance in how to make similar changes in their states.
Pittsburgh Public Schools needs to follow suit.
Although Pittsburgh Public Schools has its own separate police force and building security
guards, they too have been called out in news stories for excessive force, racial profiling, and
being untruthful about allegations of students as well. Late last year, the District was named as
the defendant in a lawsuit regarding its use of handcuffs on a disabled 7 year-old child. Earlier
this year, lawyers for the plaintiff in that suit amended it to become a class action suit, which
suggests this was more than just an isolated incident. As recently as February, it was reported that
five Pittsburgh Public Schools were among the top 25 schools for arrests across the entire state.
Yet the chief of the District’s police force, George Brown, shockingly testified last year that the
school district needs to have police officers in guns patrolling school buildings.
According to a recent report from the City’s Gender Equity Commission, Pittsburgh Public
Schools is the number one source of referrals to Allegheny County Juvenile Court – a move that
fuels the disturbing school-to-prison pipeline that exists in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Kids are
summoned to court, labeled as juvenile delinquents, and ordered to receive “treatment and
services” for after school fights, writing on a filing cabinet in permanent marker, or mouthing off
to a teacher. High school students who are 18 or older have even spent the night in the Allegheny
County Jail for school fights or possessing a small amount of marijuana on school grounds. Too
many of children are placed into handcuffs and processed as though they are criminals for
normative adolescent behavior.
Although Pittsburgh Public Schools has been problematic in its use of police in schools, it is not
alone. Nationally, data from the National Center for Education statistics shows that more than
70% of secondary schools and 30% of primary schools have sworn law enforcement officers in
their schools. But the presence of police in schools does not make students safer. It increases the
number of students who are entering the juvenile and criminal legal systems in this country.
Once students enter these courts systems, they are more likely to drop out of school and more
likely to have another contact with these courts. Of course, black and brown children are
disproportionately affected by this police presence. They are referred to court more often, they

 have worse outcomes from court processes, they languish in the system longer, and most
importantly, they are most likely to be the victims of police violence.
For years, parent and community activists have called for Pittsburgh Public Schools to divest
funding from police and invest in more counselors, social workers, and mental health
professionals for schools. The community has asked for meaningful restorative discipline
practices in every building and resources to build community schools throughout the school
district. What they have received are minor changes that have done nothing to stem the tide of
children that flow from the District’s school buildings into the courthouse doors. What they have
received is a school police chief advocating to bring weapons into its buildings, instead of people
who can listen and treat the needs of kids.
Pittsburgh Public Schools is staring out of a window of opportunity. In this deeply troubled
moment for our nation, they have the chance to bring the promise of a different tomorrow for the
children who arrive at its buildings this fall. It has the chance to be a leader in the region and to
agree that enough is enough. Pittsburgh Public schools must divest funding from police and
invest in resources that will change – and, for some, save – the lives of its students.