Des Moines Public Schools: More Fights Not Due to Removal Of SROs

(Des Moines, IA) Officials with the Des Moines Public School District say the increase in the number of fights at schools this fall isn’t due to the removal of school resource officers.  Police have been called to deal with 13 fights this fall.  That compares to nine during the same time period in 2019.  District staff members, current and former students, and community members are saying bringing those resource officers back would only return the problems that led to their removal – the criminalization of student behaviors and disproportionate contact between those officers and students of color.  One official blames the rising number of fights to pandemic-related stress and staffing shortages.