DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) - The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa announced a new project focused on researching the status and impact of School Resource Officers (SROs) in Iowa’s schools.

SROs are police officers who are typically armed and work in a school setting. There is no conclusive evidence that increasing police staff makes schools safer, despite this being a main goal for crime prevention.

The ACLU says that research shows police in schools create harm for many students, especially students of color and those with disabilities, by taking minor issues and pushing them into the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.

The project will continue the ACLU of Iowa’s efforts to end SRO programs in Iowa schools due to creating harm for students. It will expand on a toolkit for

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