D.C. Council members pushed a bill Thursday to require reports every six months on student arrests and disciplinary actions at city schools involving police, broken down by race, sex and other measures.
Under the bill, the Metropolitan Police Department would have to publish data biannually on arrests and police-involved incidents at schools, as well as the number of weapons, contraband and controlled substances recovered.
“We know that students of color and with disabilities are disproportionately affected by all forms of school discipline,” Council member Christina Henderson said in a statement. “In its current form, data shared around school-based arrests or disciplinary action cannot be disaggregated by demographics. This legislation would change that.”
Ms. Henderson, an independent at-large member of the Council, cited a 2017 report from the American Civil Liberties Union that found 91% of students arrested at schools in the District are Black, but they only make up 71% of the student population.
The reports would have to be broken down by race, gender, age, and disability to allow for “equitable, well-informed decisions for all students in the District,” Ms. Henderson said.
The School Police Incident Oversight and Accountability Amendment Act of 2021 stems from the city’s police reform commission report released last month which includes 90 recommendations.
Ms. Henderson co-introduced the bill along with Janeese Lewis George, Ward 4 Democrat; Robert C. White Jr., at-large Democrat; Kenyan R. McDuffie, Ward 5 Democrat and Brooke Pinto, Ward 2 Democrat.
• Emily Zantow can be reached at ezantow@washingtontimes.com.
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