Public radio, Center report on L.A. school court citations’ controversy

Introduction

A father talks about his young son’s arrest at school and subsequent court citation, and Los Angeles’ school police chief responds to a growing controversy in a new report aired by Southern California Public Radio.

The report by KPCC radio was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity. It features an interactive map showing Los Angeles Unified School District middle schools where court citations were heavily concentrated last year. The map is based on a Center analysis of records recording school police officers’ citations for students to appear in lower-level juvenile court.

Students in lower-income, mostly black and Latino neighborhoods were far more likely to be given tickets for disturbing the peace, arriving late to school or being truant and other infractions. The Center’s companion report contains additional details on the accelerating dispute over student-police interaction at schools, and federal education officials’ decision to scrutinize discipline patterns and police citations in the Los Angeles district.