NCJ Number
83521
Date Published
1980
Length
92 pages
Annotation
This volume is designed to help parents, teachers, and students deal with the escalating problem of violence and crime in the schools by gaining an understanding of their legal rights and responsibilities regarding school crime.
Abstract
The book's two main theses are that teachers must recognize and respond to crimes because criminal law does not stop at the schoolyard gate and that schools must balance their duties to deal with crime with the rights of expression. An examination of the scope and sources of the duty of school staff to protect the health and safety of students focuses on the powers which school staff have to fulfill these duties, the limits of those powers, and the substantive crimes and offenses which they are charged to prevent and punish. The need for a responsible alliance between the school and law enforcement and the importance of developing responsible citizenship through the educational process are emphasized. The role of law enforcement is examined, with emphasis on the authority to enter the campus, interviews or removals of students during school hours, and police assistance to school administrators. Guidelines on identifying and dealing with crimes in the school focus on drugs, alcohol, weapons, fighting, stealing, crimes against school personnel, crimes against school property, and the handling of outsiders on or near school property. Information on criminal procedure covers arrests and detentions by school staff, searches and seizures by school staff, and juvenile procedures. Discipline in the schools is also covered with respect to disciplinary offenses, disciplinary punishments, and the limits of discipline. An index and 260 reference notes are provided.