— In Oregon, the United States District Court, ruled that the use of a taser by school resource officers was an excessive use of force. The student, enrolled in a college preparatory charter school, was discovered in a vacant building near campus, by an SRO. The officer called for backup to investigate after smelling a “very strong odor of marijuana.” During the subsequent search and seizure, the second officer utilized three times a taser set on “drive-stun” mode for 5 seconds when the student failed to comply with instruction and started to walk away. Applying the three-factor test of Graham v. Connor,( 490 U.S. 386 (1989)), the court ruled that the officers were not entitled to summary judgment or qualified immunity because (1) the use of a taser, even in drive-stun mode, is far from a trivial application of force; (2) the crimes at issue were not severe; (3) the student did not pose an immediate threat to the officers.
Michael Francisco v. City of Redmond
— In Virginia, school resource officers in Prince William County will soon operate under a new set of rules regarding when students are subject to arrest for misbehaving in school. The Prince William County Police Department and school division officials are in the process of revising the memorandum of understanding that dictates police officers’ role in school discipline matters.
The aim of the revisions is to ensure school resource officers do not arrest students for “minor offenses,” such as thefts, disorderly conduct and fighting.
— In Tennessee, parents in the Shelby County Schools district are pushing for more resource officers inside the schools after a shooting in a K-8 school. Under current policy, there is one officer for each high school and middle school. The elementary schools share one officer.
— In California, officials in Cathedral City voted to bring back school resource officers to high schools campuses. The police were removed based on ambiguity about the role of police officers in maintaining discipline in the schools.