"Research on a police diversion program implemented in 2014 shows a striking 91% reduction in in-school arrests over less than 10 years.
Across the United States, arrest rates for young people under age 18 have been declining for decades. However, the proportion of youth arrests associated with school incidents has increased.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, K–12 schools referred nearly 230,000 students to law enforcement during the school year that began in 2017. These referrals and the 54,321 reported school-based arrests that same year were mostly for minor misbehavior like marijuana possession, as opposed to more serious offenses like bringing a gun to school.
School-based arrests are one part of the school-to-prison pipeline, through which students—especially Black and Latine students and those with disabilities—are pushed out of their schools and into the legal system.
Getting caught up in the legal system has been linked to negative health, social, and academic outcomes, as well as increased risk for future arrest.
Given these negative consequences, public agencies in states like Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania have looked for ways to arrest fewer young people in schools. Philadelphia, in particular, has pioneered a successful effort to divert youth from the legal system.
Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program
In Philadelphia, police department leaders recognized that the city’s school district was its largest source of referrals for youth arrests. To address this issue, then–Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel developed and implemented a school-based, pre-arrest diversion initiative in partnership with the school district and the city’s department of human services. The program is called the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program, and it officially launched in May 2014.
Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker named Bethel as her new police commissioner on Nov. 22, 2023.
Since the diversion program began, when police are called to schools in the city for offenses like marijuana possession or disorderly conduct, they cannot arrest the student involved if that student has no pending court case or history of adjudication. In juvenile court, an adjudication is similar to a conviction in criminal court.
Instead of being arrested, the diverted student remains in school, and school personnel decide how to respond to their behavior. For example, they might speak with the student, schedule a meeting with a parent, or suspend the student.
A social worker from the city also contacts the student’s family to arrange a home visit, where they assess youth and family needs. Then, the social worker makes referrals to no-cost community-based services. The student and their family choose whether to attend.
Our team—the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel University—evaluated the effectiveness of the diversion program as independent researchers not affiliated with the police department or school district. We published four research articles describing various ways the diversion program affected students, schools, and costs to the city.
Arrests Dropped
In our evaluation of the diversion program’s first five years, we reported that the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia decreased by 84%: from nearly 1,600 in the school year beginning in 2013 to just 251 arrests in the school year beginning in 2018.
Since then, school district data indicates the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia has continued to decline—dropping to just 147 arrests in the school year that began in 2022. That’s a 91% reduction from the year before the program started.
We also investigated the number of serious behavioral incidents recorded in the school district in the program’s first five years. Those fell as well, suggesting that the diversion program effectively reduced school-based arrests without compromising school safety.
Additionally, data showed that city social workers successfully contacted the families of 74% of students diverted through the program during its first five years. Nearly 90% of these families accepted at least one referral to community-based programming, which includes services like academic support, job skill development, and behavioral health counseling...
Long-Term Outcomes
To evaluate a longer follow-up period, we compared the 427 students diverted in the program’s first year to the group of 531 students arrested before the program began. Results showed arrested students were significantly more likely to be arrested again in the following five years...
Finally, a cost-benefit analysis revealed that the program saves taxpayers millions of dollars.
Based on its success in Philadelphia, several other cities and counties across Pennsylvania have begun replicating the Police School Diversion Program. These efforts could further contribute to a nationwide movement to safely keep kids in their communities and out of the legal system."
-via Yes! Magazine, December 5, 2023
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Today in Pisa, Italy, a group of high school students manifesting for the Pro Palestine movement were attacked by the police.
Despite the peaceful nature of the manifestation, the police prevented the students from progressing and beat anyone who tried to overcome their barrier. Some were pushed to the ground with their hands behind their backs like criminals, just because they were trying to send a message of peace.
None of the students were armed. Majority of the students were minors.
Some politicians such as Edoardo Ziello, Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic, expressed "solidarity with the police", justifying the violence used because "the students were wearing hoods and could be potentially dangerous".
It doesn't matter if CHILDREN and MINORS are injured, apparently.
This is disgusting. Italy is becoming a country bordering on fascism and dictatorship.
UPDATE 23 FEBRUARY AT 5 PM: The first toll from Pisa is 10 injured minors, with bruises and various abrasions and two of these also have fractured fingers. Three adults were rescued, the eldest of whom was 25 years old with head trauma and abrasion of the head, and two nineteen-year-olds, one with a splinted arm, hit with a truncheon while he was taking cover, and another boy with head trauma and a lacerated bruise.
Image credits to fanpage.it on Instagram
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Batman is not "pro-police" and is sure as hell not a Republican
Some people are under the impression that Batman is pro-police, but that is literally so inaccurate. Batman is for police reform and accountability, and he will personally do it himself if he has to. He is anti-gun and believes a police officer should never shoot unless absolutely necessary. He wouldn't have become Batman if he thought the police were competent. He only works with Jim Gordon, because he thinks most of the police are incompetent. He would and has fist fought with dirty cops. He thinks that getting rid of corrupt cops (and politicians) is an important part of making Gotham a better place. He prefers giving petty criminals jobs and social resources rather than having them arrested.
He is not just for police reform but also prison reform, because he believes the point of prisons should be about rehabilitating inmates. He believes that no one is beyond rehabilitation. That is borderline one of his character flaws. He hires former inmates so they can make a living without turning back to crime. He even has a halfway house that former convicts can stay in until they get figuratively back on their feet. He prefers eradicating crime by addressing the root cause, which is often poverty and a lack of social resources.
AND ANOTHER THING- There's this idea that Gotham is a shithole because Bruce isn't doing enough with his wealth, but that doesn't take into account that he is nowhere near the only billionaire in Gotham. He's up against the Court of Owl elites, and a lot of them are board members for Wayne Enterprises and have a say in what the company can and can not do. The Court of Owls plays a heavy roll in politics and most politicians are puppets of the Court and mobs. Politicians that aren't corrupt get killed by the bad guys for refusing to obey. Look at what happened to Harvey Dent. Look at how much money he has funneled into Arkham to no avail. Bruce can not own and control every aspect of every major business in Gotham. No person should have a monopoly on an entire city.
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i might get some hate for this depending on where this post goes but i think lesboys are so valid and the discourse about them is so ridiculous. like you guys shouldn't have to deal with all that and it frustrates me that people throw hissy fits over an identity that literally does not affect them at all.
"but men cant be lesbians-" wrong. butch lesbians and trans men have a really closely connected history with each other that practically intersects and you should really do some research on that before you make blanket statements, not to mention that gender and sexuality is weird and wobbly and fluid and a very personal experience. it means a different thing to each person. being a man can be something completely different and saying stuff like this ignores people like demiboys, demigirls, genderfluid and genderflux people etc. these people will really preach "demolish the gender binary!! love is love!!" until someone's relationship with gender and sexuality is a little too freaky for them to handle and be challenged by lmaoo
"ohhh but what about the cishet men who say they're lesbians to prey on women-" YEAH WHAT ABOUT THEM????? THIS AIN'T ABOUT THEM BRO!!!!! this argument also REEKS of terfy "trans women are just predatory men!!!111!!1" rhetoric and it grosses me out. yeah some men are gross and do try to pull this but that does not negate someone's entire identity completely just because of a few bad actors, you know that right? actual black and white behaviour.
queer discourse is silly and i don't know why it's a thing. just let people exist. it isn't that hard. we have worse things to worry about than whether someone calls themselves a lesboy or not. i think we need to unplug our ears and yank our heads out of the sand and remember that the queer community is what it is because of our unique and amazing diversity. arguing over labels like school children isn't gonna help that. damn.
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