Does Race Matter: An Analysis of the Perceptions of the Roles of School Police

Following a series of highly publicized school attacks in the 1990s, school resource officers (SROs) became a prominent feature of schools. Organizations such as the National Association of School of Resource Officers have advocated for SROs to provide more resources to schools than just law enforcement, including serving as educators and informal counselors. Current research has failed to consider how stakeholders perceive SROs' roles in schools and whether these perceptions vary by race. The current study explores how SROs, school staff, and students perceive the role of SROs. Descriptive statistics reveal that, with the exception of SROs, most staff and students perceive SROs primarily as law enforcers. Using t-tests and regression analyses, the results suggest that the perceptions of SROs as educators and informal counselors vary by the stakeholder's race.