- The ways in which a school may handle criminal matters on a campus depends largely on whether the school security personnel is a direct employee of the school district or is a police officer who is stationed at the school. For example, the later admissibility of evidence obtained during search or confession may be treated more leniently by a judge if the search or confession is conducted by a school employee rather than a police officer who happens to be stationed at the school. A school employee need not provide Miranda warnings, those warnings heard on television after an arrest, while a police officer must. Schools and local law enforcement should work together to determine the best approach for the particular school setting.
- In any other setting, the minimum requirement to detain or search a citizen is usually probable cause or a showing of evidence that a crime has probably been committed. However, because of the need to maintain order to protect hundreds of students, schools need only meet a reasonable suspicion standard. There need only be a reasonable belief that a crime or school rule has been violated to search a student. That standard holds even for police officers at the school. Thus, a 13-year-old believed to have drugs in his backpack at the mall may only be searched if the officer has probable cause, but at the school, the same backpack may be searched under reasonable suspicion that it contains drugs. Schools have much greater flexibility.
- The ability to interrogate a student for a suspected crime depends on whether school security is a police officer or school employee. School employees are free to question students, even without reasonable suspicion, while a police officer stationed at the school is required to convey Miranda warnings and offer the opportunity for a lawyer before interrogation. Failure to provide such constitutional safeguards could result in the inadmissibility of any evidence obtained from the interrogation. Parents often question whether a police officer can interrogate a student at all without parental permission. Though some law enforcement agencies set particular standards and guidelines for interrogations and some state constitutions offer heightened protection for minors, the United States Constitution does not require parental permission to interrogate a minor.
- Particularly after the Columbine massacre, school districts across the country have adopted zero-tolerance policies. Such policies, which mandate expulsion for weapons or drugs on campus, are considered by most education experts to be ineffective at curbing violence and drug abuse at schools. Many school districts have come under fire when even simple items, such as nail clippers and small pocket knives, result in expulsions for first-time offenders.
- More effective than overbearing policies is the use of metal detectors, transparent backpacks and dress codes. Schools that have implemented the use of these security measures have seen a drop in school crime. Metal detectors and transparent backpacks make it difficult for students to conceal contraband, while dress codes give students a greater sense of equality and reduce instances of gang related violence where gang colors or regalia were routine attire among students.
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