School resource officers for the Omaha Police Department and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office used force on students on school property at least 63 times from the start of 2021 through the present, according to a review of incident reports by the Flatwater Free Press cited by Nebraska Public Media.
Scope and demographics
Records show officers restrained, struck, tackled, pepper-sprayed and handcuffed students, including children as young as 11 and 12. Black students were the majority of those subjected to force in the incidents reviewed, although Black students make up roughly 15% of the enrollment at the schools where the agencies provide officers.
Omaha Police Department school resource officers are assigned to 34 schools serving more than 39,000 students. OPD provided incident report data in response to a public records request showing its SROs used force on students 33 times across 14 schools since the start of 2021.
Controversy over shock gloves and district responses
The disclosure that some local SROs carried electric shock gloves prompted parents to raise objections at an Omaha school board meeting. Following that meeting, Omaha Public Schools officials asked OPD officers assigned to the district to stop carrying the devices; OPD agreed to that request for OPS campuses. Officers assigned to other area districts — Elkhorn, Millard and Westside — continue to carry the gloves, according to reporting.
“It’s less than a percent,” said Neal Bonacci, a spokesman for the Omaha Police Department, referring to the share of force incidents relative to the thousands of contacts SROs have with students, parents and staff.
Debate over role of SROs in schools
School administrators and law enforcement officials defended the SRO program as a means to protect students and staff and to build positive early relationships between youth and police. Advocates and community experts countered that officers may be used to address routine discipline problems and that the use of force appears to fall disproportionately on minority students.
- Combined OPD and Douglas County SRO force incidents: at least 63 since 2021.
- OPD SRO incidents documented in records: 33 incidents across 14 schools.
- OPD SRO coverage: 34 schools and more than 39,000 students.
No statewide policy change was announced in the reporting. District and law enforcement officials have expressed differing views on the appropriate role and equipment for SROs as families and community groups press for reviews of training, oversight and the circumstances that lead to force in schools.
