— In Pennsylvania, the United States District Court refused to dismiss a lawsuit against a municipality and an SRO for violating the Fourth Amendment rights of a student. The student was injured when the SRO deployed a taser to prevent the student, who broke away from the SRO, from running away from a fight in the school cafeteria. The court’s refusal to dismiss the case was due solely to the failure of the municipality “to provide guidance to officers on the use of force, and specifically the use of tasers, against minors in the school setting.” Under the appropriate legal standard, “the lack of guidance on the use of tasers on minors in the school setting amounts to deliberate indifference.” The court agreed with the student that, “the interactions between SROs with minors in schools is vastly different than everyday encounters between police officers and adult citizens. Thus, … the need for a policy or guidance specifically tailored to the use of force against minors in schools, particularly when SROs are equipped with tasers, was so obvious that the failure to enact one amounted to deliberate indifference and resulted in harm to (the student).” Brown v. Lower Swatara Township
— In Maryland, the Baltimore City Schools have upgraded its resources and budget for school safety. It has invested in a high-level weapons detection system. All city schools will be equipped with exterior locking systems. A new weapons detection system will alert officials if any firearms are on campus. And salaries of school resource officers in city schools have also been increased.
— In Texas, the legislature has enacted three new polices for K-12 campus safety. House Bill 114 requires districts to remove students from class and place them in an alternative school if they possess or use an e-cigarette (vapes), or if they sell or deliver vapes to someone else. If the alternative schools are at capacity, HB 114 allows schools to suspend students. “It applies on school campuses, within 300 feet of school property or at school-sponsored or activities on or off school property.” House Bill 3 mandates that districts must have a district peace officer, school resource officer or commissioned peace officer at every school during school hours and establishes other safety protocols and requirements. Districts can claim an exception to the law if they do not have enough funding or qualified police officers to comply, but the school board must create an alternative plan, such as having school marshals or qualified employees serve as police officers. Senate Bill 763 allows school boards to authorize the district to use part of their annual school safety allotment to hire chaplains to work at their campuses. Chaplains can serve as mental health personnel, provide behavioral health services or assist with programs related to suicide prevention and intervention.
— In Colorado, at least 14 school resource officers will be at campuses for the Denver Public School District, one of the most significant changes since the gun-related incidents the previous academic year. The policy is not new; it is a return to school district policy prior to 2020. In 2020 school officials removed the officers.