Police officers were placed in Iowa schools to protect students from violence, but a report released on Thursday, July 30th, 2026, by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa found that the most common issue they address is illicit vaping.

Using public records and federal data, the ACLU of Iowa studied the impact of increased school resource officers (SROs) across Iowa school districts. The report highlighted what it described as unnecessary involvement of SROs in classroom discipline, citing examples such as responding to a 7-year-old running through the hall, a disruptive 6-year-old, and investigations into students for being "disrespectful" or involved in "drama with a group of girls."

Nationally, the number of police in schools grew by 23 percent between 2018 and 2021, driven largely by efforts to prevent mass shootings and handle violent situations. However, the ACLU of Iowa report found no evidence that SROs make schools safer. Instead, black and disabled students were disproportionately subjected to police referrals and arrests for disciplinary issues, despite national studies indicating these students do not misbehave or commit crimes at higher rates.

"Without question, nothing could be more important than keeping kids safe, but unfortunately there's no evidence that SROs make schools safer," said Rita Bettis Austen, legal director of the ACLU of Iowa, during a press conference.

Jacob Sarasin, ACLU of Iowa legal fellow, expressed shock that "80 percent of school districts have no meaningful policy" on training requirements for SROs.

Research cited in the report shows that involving police in minor incidents traditionally handled within schools can harm students by funneling them into juvenile delinquency and adult court systems.

Supporting these findings, a 2021 working paper by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University found that while SROs "do effectively reduce some forms of violence in schools," they did not prevent school shootings or gun-related incidents. Additionally, a 2020 study noted that after Florida more than doubled its number of SROs in 2018, school arrests—which had been declining—began to rise again.

The report underscores concerns that many issues police handle, such as vaping, do not require armed officers.

Sources