Forging a School-Police Relationship to Decrease Student Arrests

“Bridgeport School Arrests, Suspensions Down” declared a July 2015 headline in the Connecticut Post. Communities across the United States are seeing similar results as they try to decrease “school exclusion” discipline methods such as school-based arrests, expulsions, and suspensions. But, how can such a decrease happen? A partnership between the Bridgeport, Connecticut, Police Department and the public schools in its jurisdiction has led to an evidence-based approach that helps to divert students from justice system involvement and brings down student arrests.