2017 Legislative Priority: Improve School Policing Practices

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Stay up-to-date on our top priorities during the 85th Legislative Session. This issue falls under our Children & Youth work.

Texas Appleseed continues to support measures to improve school police training and data collection. Following the passage of House Bill 2684 in 2015, police officers in all school districts in Texas with more than 30,000 students are required to have at least 16 hours of youth-focused training. Unfortunately, the law does not require training for officers in small- and medium-sized districts. Further, there are no laws in Texas that require the collection and publication of data related to school-based arrests, use of force incidents, and citations/complaints. Students in Texas schools are restrained, come into contact with Tasers and pepper spray, and are sent to court, all without required disclosure to the public. The Texas Legislature should expand the youth-focused training requirements of HB 2684 so that they apply to officers who interact with students in all school districts in Texas. The legislature should also task the Texas Judicial Council with developing a data collection system that will require school district police departments, local police departments that assign or send their officers to schools, and courts to collect and report data related to school-based arrests, use of force incidents, and court contact. Finally, the legislature should encourage investment in high-quality counselors and other mental health professionals in schools by establishing a ratio of school-based counselors and other mental health professionals to school-based law enforcement officers. 

For a full list of our priorities, click here.