In the 1980s, K–12 public schools started increasing the use of uniformed, armed police officers, known as school resource officers (SRO) on campuses. Most school districts pay the local police or...

In the 1980s, K–12 public schools started increasing the use of uniformed, armed police officers, known as school resource officers (SRO) on campuses. Most school districts pay the local police or sheriff’s department to assign officers to schools. The assignment as SRO can be a full-time, long-term job or it may be a short rotating assignment. The National Association of School Resource Officers recommends that SRO should have a minimum of 40 hours of specialized training. It is not known how many school districts follow this recommendation. Many SRO receive no training and respond based upon their standard law enforcement training. As many schools have adopted zero-tolerance policies for violence and weapons, they have given the task of handling disturbances and threats to the SRO. The result has been that students as young as eight years have been body slammed, restrained by chokeholds, pinned to the ground, and handcuffed by SRO. The ACLU claims that tens of thousands of kids, especially kids with special-needs, are mistreated every year by SRO and have filed lawsuits to stop the practice. Should the law mandate special training for SRO?