A Legal Analysis of the Involvement of School Resource Officers in Searches and Seizures in K-12 Public Schools

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Wells, R. (2019). A Legal Analysis of the Involvement of School Resource Officers in Searches and Seizures in K-12 Public Schools. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a set of court-based guiding principles for the integration of school resource officers in searches and seizures in K-12 public schools. This purpose was achieved by applying Standard Legal Analysis methodology to state and federal district and appellate court cases involving school resource officers in searches and seizures in the public school setting. After examining and analyzing data extracted from case briefs of lower court rulings, the patterns and themes that emerged were used to synthesize specific, court-defined legal principles in response to the questions of this study: (1) How have courts ruled on the role of school resource officers through holdings? (2) What legal standards have courts applied in searches and seizures involving school resource officers – school or non-school Fourth Amendment standards? Did court reasonings expand on T.L.O.? (3) What have been the key factors that influenced court rulings in cases where school resource officers are involved in the searches? (4) How have courts treated evidence obtained through searches involving school resource officers as compared to school administrator-only searches and school administrator-led searches with school resource officer involvement? Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the researcher proposed several recommendations for the integration of school resource officers in searches and seizures in K-12 public schools that meets both the letter and spirit of the law.

Details
Author

Wells, Richard

Title

A Legal Analysis of the Involvement of School Resource Officers in Searches and Seizures in K-12 Public Schools

Physical Description

1 online resource (252 pages) : PDF

Date

2019

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a set of court-based guiding principles for the integration of school resource officers in searches and seizures in K-12 public schools. This purpose was achieved by applying Standard Legal Analysis methodology to state and federal district and appellate court cases involving school resource officers in searches and seizures in the public school setting. After examining and analyzing data extracted from case briefs of lower court rulings, the patterns and themes that emerged were used to synthesize specific, court-defined legal principles in response to the questions of this study: (1) How have courts ruled on the role of school resource officers through holdings? (2) What legal standards have courts applied in searches and seizures involving school resource officers – school or non-school Fourth Amendment standards? Did court reasonings expand on T.L.O.? (3) What have been the key factors that influenced court rulings in cases where school resource officers are involved in the searches? (4) How have courts treated evidence obtained through searches involving school resource officers as compared to school administrator-only searches and school administrator-led searches with school resource officer involvement? Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the researcher proposed several recommendations for the integration of school resource officers in searches and seizures in K-12 public schools that meets both the letter and spirit of the law.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Educational leadership
Education and state
School management and organization

Degree

D.Ed.

Keywords

Fourth Amendment
Reasonableness
School Resource Officers
School Searches
School Seizures
T.L.O.

Subject Area

Educational Leadership

Advisor(s)

Dunaway, David

Committee Members

Shore, Rebecca
Jones, Jeanneine
Watson, Jimmy

Degree Note

Thesis (D.Ed.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2019.

Rights Statement

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Wells_uncc_0694D_12012

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2429