> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Crockett Seeks National Review of Police Force in Schools - URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/crockett-seeks-national-review-police-force-schools/ - Published: 2026-10-24T05:45:14.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T05:45:14.000Z - Description: A congressional request asks the GAO to examine force by school police nationwide after a Texas records review identified at least 2,600 incidents. The proposal highlights major gaps in arrest, force and oversight data. - Author: News Desk - Tags: Education, Texas At least 2,600 uses of force by school police were identified in a partial review of Texas records from 2022 through 2025, a finding now driving a congressional request for a national examination of how officers treat students. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office to study school policing practices and recommend ways to prevent unnecessary force, the [Express-News](https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/jasmine-crockett-federal-school-policing-review-22490842.php?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported Friday. The GAO is deciding whether to accept the request; no federal investigation has begun, and any recommendations would be advisory rather than binding. The request moves a state-centered records investigation toward a national policy question: whether schools have adequate information, training and oversight to distinguish genuine safety threats from conduct that belongs in the disciplinary system. It also arrives as districts remain under pressure to prevent violence while protecting students from unnecessary criminalization. ## Texas Records Expose a National Data Gap The Texas inquiry, conducted by the San Antonio Express-News and The New York Times, reviewed records from more than 200 districts and police agencies. Reporters found more than 2,600 force incidents, including takedowns, pepper spray and Tasers, but described that count as an undercount because many agencies supplied limited information or none. Texas has more than 1,000 public school districts and nearly 400 district police departments, according to the [investigation](https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/texas-public-school-policing-tactics-22276471.php?ref=theamericanquorum.com). The incomplete record is central to Crockett’s case for a GAO review. Without consistent reporting, policymakers cannot reliably compare districts, distinguish justified interventions from avoidable escalation or determine whether particular students face disproportionate risk. Crockett had already asked Texas officials for information on monitoring and accountability in an Oct. 6 [letter](https://crockett.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-crockett-investigates-police-use-force-against-students-texas-schools?ref=theamericanquorum.com); her office said Friday that state leaders had not responded. ## Arrests Rise Where Police Handle Discipline The strongest national baseline comes from a 2024 [GAO report](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106294?ref=theamericanquorum.com) using federal data from the years before the pandemic. It found that arrest rates were more than twice as high in schools with police present as in otherwise similar schools without them. Arrests were especially common when officers participated in student discipline, although the analysis established association rather than proving that police presence alone caused the difference. The same report found that Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native students were arrested at two to three times the rate of white students in 2017–18\. Disparities widened for boys with disabilities. GAO recommended better collection of race-and-disability data, clearer disclosure of limitations and advance notice to districts when federal definitions change; those recommendations remained open in the agency’s latest status notes. ## Young Students Enter the Justice System A second Texas analysis illustrates why force and arrest data need to be read together. Children ages 10 to 13 were referred for prosecution after school incidents more than 47,000 times since 2014, including about 4,800 referrals in 2024–25, the [records review](https://www.expressnews.com/news/education/article/texas-schools-student-arrests-22475754.php?ref=theamericanquorum.com) found. Many cases involved threats, vaping or physical conflicts rather than serious injury, although some incidents involved weapons or other significant safety risks. Those figures do not establish that every referral was improper, and school officials and officers face real obligations to protect students and staff. Texas educators interviewed in the reporting described officers as valuable during violent fights and possible attacks. The operational question is narrower: when does a safety response become routine discipline, and who reviews that boundary when a school employee summons an officer? ## Federal Data Still Carry Important Limits The Education Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection defines referrals and school-related arrests, but the federal record has suffered from changing definitions and uneven reporting. The department’s own [analysis](https://www.ed.gov/media/document/crdc-discipline-school-climate-reportpdf-21409.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) warns that referrals can include citations, tickets and court referrals, while every school-related arrest is also counted as a referral. That distinction matters when comparing local practices or describing the scale of student contact with law enforcement. A GAO review could therefore add value even without producing immediate rules. It could test whether districts record force consistently, identify which agencies supervise officers, compare training standards and examine how disability, age, race and alleged misconduct shape outcomes. Yet GAO studies can take months or years, and Crockett’s departure from Congress in January creates uncertainty about who would carry any resulting legislation. ## The Educator's Takeaway For school leaders, the developing federal request is less a verdict on school police than a warning about governance. Districts need to know when officers are called, what force is used, whether the incident began as ordinary discipline and how students with disabilities are affected. Existing federal findings already show that arrest patterns differ sharply across student groups and that police involvement in discipline is associated with more arrests. The new request could clarify national practices, but it does not require districts to wait. The immediate implication is to examine local definitions, reporting systems, memoranda with police agencies, complaint review and training against the district’s stated division between safety enforcement and student discipline. ## What Comes Next The next consequential step is GAO’s decision on whether to undertake the work and, if so, the scope it sets. A useful review would need current national data and a transparent way to separate emergency protection, criminal investigation and disciplinary assistance. Until that happens, the Texas records provide evidence of a serious oversight problem, but not a complete national measure of force in schools.