46 2 Police and Law Enforcement—Juvenile Forensicsnot otherwise have positive interactions with the legal system. This idea has lead
to the development of Police-Schools Liaison programs. These programs were
developed to create a positive view of the police and to decrease the adherence to
criminal and delinquent lifestyles. In schools with such a program, a police officer
becomes a full-time School—Liaison Officer (SLO). The role of this individual is
to improve the police image and to offer young people positive interactions with
police and law enforcement. School-Liaison Officers provide many functions in
the school including interacting with school officials and teachers about particular
students, disciplining and warning pupils, investigating illegal activity such as theft or
vandalism, offering supervision, or participating in school assemblies. These varied
activities offer a wide array of opportunities for students to have contact with their
SLO; however, most students see this individual while they are patrolling school
grounds or eating in the cafeteria (Hopkins, Hewstone, & Hantzi, 1992).
Policymakers hope that Police-Schools Liaison programs will change juveniles'
negative attitudes toward both the police and criminal offending and in a 1992 study
by Hopkins et al., the impact of these programs was investigated. They targeted six
schools with SLOs and seven control schools that did not have one. They used a
detailed questionnaire to assess a number of factors from the student's point of view
including police stereotypes, amount of contact with police, attitude toward the
police, and perceptions of crime. These psychologists found that there was a very
low level of direct contact between students and their SLO in the target schools.
Upon interviewing others in the school it was learned that although the direct
contact may be minimal, there was a great deal of police input into the school.
In regard to attitude change, there was no significant difference in the attitude
development of the students in the target and control schools over the time studied.
This could be related to the age of the students (14—16), as it is common for
adolescents to develop negative views of law enforcement. The most important
finding of this study relates to the students' perception of their SLO and police
in general. Students in the target schools viewed their SLO more positively than
police in general. It seems that students do not perceive their SLO as being a typical
representative of the police and therefore do not generalize their positive feelings
about their SLO to the entire police force.
This finding is demonstrated by the case of Devon, who attended a high school
with a Police—Schools Liaison Program. He had a number of interactions with
his school's SLO, Officer Riley, who was present throughout much of Devon's
secondary education. Not only did he attend many school functions during which
Officer Riley spoke, but Devon also developed an individual relationship with him.
He had a habit of missing and being late for class, and Officer Riley took it upon
himself to discuss Devon's behavior with him. He became aware of Devon's dislike
and fear of police, and he therefore attempted to make a positive impression of
law enforcement officials. Even though many of their interactions revolved around
Devon's delinquent behavior, such as being suspected of destroying school property
and the possession of illegal drugs, Officer Riley and Devon developed a relationship