Police in Marin disproportionately arrest Black, Latino students, report finds

By Carolyn Jones - EdSource

Black and Latino students in Marin County were arrested or cited far more frequently than their peers from 2017-20, according to a report cited in the Marin Independent Journal.

The report, by the Marin County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission, found that most of the arrests and citations were the result of schools calling the police for assistance, not from officers targeting students.

At Terra Linda High School in San Rafael, for example, students of color make up 60% of the student body population but represent 86% of the arrests or citations, the report found. Similar disproportionalities were found at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael and Novato High School in Novato.

The report recommends that schools adopt more robust restorative justice programs and increase counseling services on campus.

Marin County’s superintendent of schools, Mary Jane Burke, said she agreed with the report’s findings, according to the newspaper.

“The data clearly demonstrates significant needs for more effective mental health interventions for students in crisis, for disrupting the cycle of students of color being disproportionately referred by schools to police and arrested or cited, and for transforming the relationship between our schools and our local law enforcement partners to a more restorative and less punitive approach,” she said.