Statement of Introduction
School Police Incident Oversight and Accountability Amendment Act of 2021
Councilmember Christina Henderson
May 20, 2021
Today, along with Councilmembers Janeese Lewis George, Robert C. White Jr., Kenyan R.
McDuffie, and Brooke Pinto, I am introducing the School Police Incident Oversight and
Accountability Amendment Act of 2021. This legislation will improve transparency with respect
to law enforcement activity occurring on school grounds.
Students of color and with disabilities are disproportionately affected by school discipline
compared to their White counterparts. Nationally, a 2020 ACLU report found that students of
color are more likely to go to a school with a law enforcement officer, more likely to be referred
to law enforcement, and more likely to be arrested at school.
In the District of Columbia, we have some high-level data illuminating these disparities.
According to the 2017 Civil Rights Data Collection Report by the U.S. Department of Education,
Black students in the District of Columbia make up 71% of students but account for nearly 91%
of school-based arrests. Latinx students make up the other 9%. The survey also found that 27%
of students receiving referrals to law enforcement were students with disabilities. Furthermore,
the Black Swan Academy found that 60% of girls arrested in DC are under the age of 15, with
Black girls in DC 30 times more likely to be arrested than White youth of any gender identity.
In response to data requests during 2020 and 2021 performance oversight hearings, the
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) released some limited data with respect to student
arrests on school grounds. For school year 2018-2019, there were 178 such arrests. For the
2019-2020 school year, as of March 13, 2020 (the last day of in-person instruction), there had
been 98 arrests in schools. MPD offered some aggregated data points sorted by race, school
location and age for 2019-2020. However, this type of data is not made publicly available on a
consistent basis, nor does it include complete and disaggregated demographic data that would
permit a fuller evaluation of equity in MPDs school-based activity.
In order to increase transparency and oversight in this area, data on school policing must be
collected and made publicly accessible in a manner that allows for analysis by race, gender, age,
and disability status. This is consistent with recommendations made by the Police Reform
Commission.
This bill will help improve accountability for youth arrests by requiring local education agencies
to maintain data on school-based disciplinary actions involving law enforcement. The
Metropolitan Police Department would be required to report school-involved incidents bi-
annually, publicly and disaggregated by race, gender, age, and disability.
I look forward to working with my Council colleagues and other stakeholders to advance and
pass this legislation which will help restore public trust and create an environment that enforces
accountability and transparency between students, schools and the Metropolitan Police
Department.
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2 Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie Councilmember Christina Henderson
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6 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George Councilmember Brooke Pinto
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10 Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr.
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19 A BILL
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23 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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28 To amend the Attendance Accountability Act of 2013 to require local education agencies to
29 maintain additional data with respect to school-based disciplinary actions involving law
30 enforcement, to amend the Revised Statutes of the District of Columbia to require the
31 Metropolitan Police Department to maintain records for school-involved arrests by race,
32 gender, age, and disability, and to require MPD to biannually publicly report certain data
33 from school-involved incidents.
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35 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
36 act may be cited as the School Police Incident Oversight and Accountability Amendment Act of
37 2021.
38 Sec. 2. The Attendance Accountability Amendment Act of 2013 effective September 19,
39 2013 (D.C. Law 20-17; D.C. Official Code 38-236.01 et Seq.) is amended as follows:
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40 (a) Section 201 (D.C. Official Code 38-236.01) is amended by inserting a new
41 paragraph (10A) as follows:
42 (10A) Law enforcement means:
43 (A) An officer or member of the Metropolitan Police Department of the
44 District of Columbia or of any other police force operating in the District of Columbia;
45 (B) An investigative officer or agent of the United States;
46 (C) An on-duty, civilian employee of the Metropolitan Police
47 Department;
48 (D) An on-duty, licensed special police officer;
49 (E) An on-duty, licensed campus police officer;
50 (F) An on-duty employee of the Department of Corrections or
51 Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services; or
52 (G) An on-duty employee of the Court Services and Offender
53 Supervision Agency, Pretrial Services Agency, or Family Court Social Services Division..
54 (b) Section 209(a)(2) (D.C. Official Code 38-236.09) is amended as follows:
55 (1) Subparagraph (G) is amended by striking the phrase ; and and inserting a
56 semicolon in its place.
57 (2) New subparagraphs (G1), (G2), and (G3) are added to read as follows:
58 (G1) The reason for involving law enforcement;
59 (G2) The type and count of weapons, contraband or controlled substances
60 recovered;
61 (G3) Law enforcement involvement in any school action or activity;
62 and.
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63 (3) Subparagraph (H) is amended to read as follows:
64 (H) A description of the conduct that led to or reasoning behind each suspension,
65 involuntary dismissal, emergency removal, disciplinary unenrollment, voluntary withdrawal or
66 transfer, referral to law enforcement, involvement of law enforcement for any reason, school-
67 based arrest, recovery of weapons, recovery of contraband, recovery of controlled dangerous
68 substance, and, for students with disabilities, change in placement; and.
69 Sec 3. Section 386 of the Revised Statutes of the District of Columbia (D.C. Official
70 Code 5-113.01) is amended as follows:
71 (a) A new subsection (a)(4E) is added to read as follows:
72 (4E) Disaggregated by school, records of school-based events involving a member or
73 members of the Metropolitan Police Department who stop, detain, or arrest individuals on school
74 grounds including:
75 (A) The number of school-based events for which an officer was involved,
76 sorted by school;
77 (B) The number of school-related arrests;
78 (C) The type and count of weapons, contraband, or controlled substances
79 recovered from any school-based event, whether or not an arrest occurred;
80 (D) The reason for involving the law enforcement officer called by the school
81 staff; and
82 (E) Demographic data of any person involved in a disciplinary incident, stop or
83 arrest on school grounds, including:
84 (i) Race;
85 (ii) Gender;
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 86 (iii) Age; and
87 (iv) Disability status.
88 (b) A new subsection (c) is inserted as follows:
89 (c) The Metropolitan Police Department shall publicly release aggregated data collected
90 in accordance with subsection (a)(4E) of this section and make the data available biannually on
91 its website..
92 Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement.
93 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal
94 impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act,
95 approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code 1-206.02 (c)(3)).
96 Sec. 5. Effective date.
97 This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the
98 Mayor, action by Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of Congressional review as
99 provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December
100 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of
101 Columbia Register.
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