NCJ Number
101887
Date Published
1985
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the extent of school crime and the nature of educators' authority to respond to criminal and disruptive incidents.
Abstract
On average, a minimum of 157,000 crimes occur in American schools in a typical month. A crucial issue is the authority which the law and the courts give to educators to deal with this problem. In 1982, a New York City court reasoned that school administrators have broad powers to control student behavior. (An assistant principal was charged by students with false arrest.) Courts have upheld the following school practices: two-way mirrors in school lavatories to observe any student drug use, the presence of undercover police on school grounds, and the transfer and suspension of students for drug possession and assaults on teachers. Laws to assist educators include a California law that makes a public offense of causing a public official to refrain from performing official duties by means of a threat. A bill has been introduced in the Colorado Legislature which mandates legal assistance for any educator sued in the line of duty. In at least a dozen cases, school boards have been upheld in their levying of automatic penalties (without due process hearings) for student possession of weapons in school. Educators' use of weapons to counter student disruptions is generally unacceptable to the courts, unless they are used in self-defense. Bus drivers and other school employees not involved in the education function do not have the educators' authority to discipline and control students. 34 notes.