The recent school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., has reignited debate about the role of police officers in schools.
Across Canada, police have long had a presence in schools through what are often known as school resource officer (SRO) programs. School resource officers’ duties vary, but can include teaching about safety, enforcing rules, advising school administrators and counselling students.
These programs have been controversial, however, and many school boards have eliminated them — only to more recently bring them back.
At a press conference two days after the Tumbler Ridge shooting, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hinted more officers could be coming to Alberta’s schools.
Experts say police can play a role in creating safe environments. But many also worry about their impact on students.
“Ultimately, the training that police officers undergo is to see risk and to read people through the lens of criminality,” said Beyhan Farhadi, an education professor at the University of Toronto.
“That is not the training that teachers undergo. They don’t go in looking for the bad guy. The teachers are there to support students to reach their potential.”
‘Unique role’
School resource officer programs were first introduced in Canada in the 1970s. The programs are partnerships between school boards and police, where police officers are assigned to a school or group of schools.
In some SRO programs, officers spend all their time at one school; in others, they divide their time among many. During the summers, some officers will be present at camps or other school-run programs.
“They have a very unique role,” said Irwin Cohen, a criminology professor at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C., who has studied SRO programs in B.C.
School resource officers give presentations to students about public safety, but they also investigate possible criminal activity. They may help respond to students who are being bullied or have mental health concerns.
Finding the balance between prevention and enforcement can be difficult, says Cohen.
“The more enforcement you do, the less proactive things you’re able to do, because students see you as, ‘Oh, you’re the law in the school. You’re not a mentor or a friend or a counselor or someone I can talk to. You’re here to arrest people who break the law off school grounds.’”
Steph Howells, a University of Guelph professor, who helped research SROs at a southern Ontario police force, says these officers’ main role is to be a counsellor for students.
“There’s that connection, that relationship, that they have that makes it seem more about support and less about policing, even though it is still a police officer who’s there,” she said.
Howells and her co-researchers saw officers identify gaps in safety plans and help students who were in danger of harming themselves.
School resource officers are at school to build relationships with students and staff, says Howells. If they have done that well, that can help make schools safer, or allow officers to respond more effectively in a crisis.
“They’re not there as security guards,” said Howells, who researches school shootings.
“They’re not there at the door to make sure that only the right people get in and the wrong people don’t.”
A hard ‘no’
Evaluating the effectiveness of SRO programs is tricky, says Cohen.
Some data, mainly from the U.S., indicate these programs may reduce incidents of violent crime. The research also indicates these programs may increase arrests of youth for non-violent crimes.
But Cohen says school resource officers should not be thought of as a “panacea” that can prevent tragedies, like what happened in Tumbler Ridge.
“I don’t know [that] there’s really any research to support that claim,” he said.
“But would schools with a more integrated model and approach be able to identify and work proactively with the kinds of kids who might end up being a more serious type of a kid? I think there’s a lot of evidence to support that kind of claim.”
Some studies also indicate that school resource officers can reduce bullying, increase mental health support for students, and in some cases, help youth avoid criminal charges.
But other studies have found the opposite, saying officers can negatively impact students from marginalized groups. Human rights commissions in B.C. and Ontario have also warned that these programs could harm racialized and other marginalized students.
Farhadi, from the University of Toronto, is studying student surveillance policies in public schools, and says school resource officers are one form of surveillance.
Having police officers at schools does not mean students are safer, she says.
“People feeling safe doesn’t equate to actually being safe,” she said. Police can make some students, especially those from traditionally marginalized communities, feel unsafe, she says.
“For me, [it’s] a hard ‘no’ to suggest that police officers should be physically in schools.”
Alexandre da Costa, an education professor at the University of Alberta who has researched anti-racism in education for years, says it is “unnecessary” to have officers in schools.
Any educational programs offered by police could be delivered by other school staff or professionals, he says. Counsellors and coaches can be mentors; mentorship does not need to come from police, he says.
He also questions whether officers can really be students’ friends, as police services often describe school resource officers.
“[There’s] an inherent conflict, because you have a person who has within the [police] position itself, things that you wouldn’t accept from other types of friendship.”
Cohen, at the University of the Fraser Valley, agrees that it can be “confusing and tricky” for students to see a uniformed police officer in their school.
While it can help students who have had bad police experiences learn that police can be trusted, it can also confuse students.
Coming back
In response to concerns over their impact on students, many school boards in the late 2010s and early 2020s started cancelling SRO programs.
The Edmonton Public School Board cancelled its program in 2020. In 2021, the Winnipeg School Division, the city’s largest school board, ended its program. In B.C., the Greater Victoria School Board dropped school resource officers in 2023.
But more recently, some have started to bring them back.
The Edmonton Public School Board restarted its program last February; the Greater Victoria School Board relaunched its program in September.
Prince Edward Island also started a SRO program in one of its school districts in 2024 at the request of the province.
In Ontario, the government passed a law in November requiring school boards to work with local police forces to create SRO programs, where they are available.
The Ontario Police Association praised the legislation when it was first introduced, saying school resource officers are “crucial’ for students’ safety.
But the Ontario Public School Board Association expressed concerns, noting it was crucial that students’ human rights be respected.
In an email to Canadian Affairs, the Winnipeg School Division said it has no plans to reinstate a SRO program.
The pendulum swings
School tragedies can impact the interest in SRO programs, says Cohen. A shooting, like in Tumbler Ridge, can renew calls for them.
“The pendulum, which is consistently swinging back and forth, is starting to swing back toward [having school resource officers],” he said.
Farhadi says school safety policies should not be made immediately after a tragedy.
“When you have a tragedy this rare and this severe, it is not reasonable to within days come up with a policy response,” she said.
“No policy response that is moving with that speed is going to be effective.”
If school boards create new SRO programs, they need to have clear agreements between school boards and police about the roles of school resource officers, says Cohen.
Officers also need specific training in youth mental health, social media and cultural sensitivity, he says.
Furthermore, not every police officer can, or should, be in a school, he says.
“[Schools] can’t be where you put people who you can’t put anywhere else,” he said. “It’s got to be people who are passionate about the non-enforcement side of working with young people.”
The shooting at Tumbler Ridge should motivate increased attention on supporting students’ mental health, says Howells, who notes that the first response after school shootings is often to focus on physical security.
“We go to the things we can see, and we think police, and we think security cameras, and we think metal detectors.
“A lot of the research shows kids are bringing weapons to school because they don’t feel safe. What are we doing to build that community in the first place, to make them feel safe?”
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Here a novel idea… have the police work out and exercise with children using their strength and endurance as a model to children, while making children feel safe and healthy in body and mind. Might be “softer” than patrolling but still a presence.
Police should not be in schools. Schools should lock their doors. I live in rural Manitoba and work as divisional staff. For the last 10 or more years when I go to a school – I have to be buzzed in. It is not perfect but it helps a great deal.
I dont think its 100% necessary to bring police into the school. What the system needs are the SROs back in the system. Im an old graduate of the 1970s,back then we only worried about parking lot fights,bloody noses black eyes the like….BUT even back then we still had the threat of violence but we had a DAILY PRESENCE of what was called then a GUIDANCE COUNSELOR.
In our yearly high school class curriculum there were mandatory bi weekly classes with him rolled into Health room. He was a great resource,the classes were very interesting and defusing issues like bullies,yes discrimination against our Metis ,Ukrainian,non English students and this was high school 1970 to 1975.
Long and short of this scenario..bring back the SRO program. Make /let them be the PROACTIVE LEAISON the are TRAINED TO BE..LET THEM MINGLE,LET THEN DO THE JOB THEY ARE TRAINED TO DO without all the bureaucratic,oversight, restrictive BS that comes with it. Whether the school boards,ordinary public realize it or not..these SROs have special and unique ways over and above their SRO training..these folks ARE the schools first line ,they are the eyes and ears in the school districts and community they serve,
Every kid,NEEDS at some point in school,an outside resource to talk yo one on one..confidentially,about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. ..and by integrating back the SRO PROGRAM is and will be a great Win.
If the police have additional education and coaching to know how to deal with students with mental health conditions, neuro divergent conditions, dysfunctional/maladaptive/abusive home settings I think they could be a valuable member of the education team.