School-Based Arrest Data Analysis
Breaking Down Charges
Analyzing the collected school-based arrest data self-reported by districts in response to FOIA requests. The goal is to understand the arrest rate of districts, the influence of legislation on trends in charges, what charges are being pressed against students, and the profile of who is being charged. When responsive documents are received, data is reviewed, cleaned, and stored in a master database. The data will be continuously updated as more Public Records Requests (PRRs) are filed and responsive documents are received.
Data Visualizations
Districts included in the visualizations on this page only regard school-based arrest data of students up to the age of 21. Data regarding summons or referrals were excluded. Districts that provided school-based arrest data were Boston, Cambridge, Chicopee, Everett, Fitchburg, Framingham, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lynn, Lowell, Malden, Methuen, Quincy, Revere, Southbridge, and Taunton. Due to districts providing no unique identifiers for students being arrested, there is no way to tell if singular students are continuously being charged. Each arrest is counted as a singular event, which can influence the overall arrest percentages calculated. Districts should provide unique identifiers for students to allow joining records and tracking of relationships between data entities to improve arrest documentation and representation.
Arrest Percentage Based on Student Enrollment
Preschool-Grade 12
Total Arrests per District
This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to reduce from 20 to 15 years and from life to 25 years the mandatory minimum prison terms for certain nonviolent repeat drug offenses.
Trends of Charges
Influential Legislation
2014-2018
Sentencing Reform Act 2015
Criminal Justice Reform Act 2018
“Bias-free policing” shall mean decisions made by law enforcement officers that shall not consider a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, mental or physical disability, immigration status, or socioeconomic or professional level.
School Resource Officers 2014
Massachusetts adopted the school police requirement in 2014. A School Resource Officer (SRO) is a duly sworn municipal police officer. SROs theoretically promote school safety and security services to elementary and secondary public schools and maintain a positive school climate.
The Impact of COVID-19
The number of arrests reported during the years 2020-2021 decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced students to participate in online learning outside of school.
Charge Trends
2018-2022
School-based arrest trends in districts such as Boston, Cambridge, Chicopee, Everett, Fitchburg, Framingham, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lynn, Lowell, Malden, Methuen, Quincy, Revere, Southbridge, and Taunton.
Defining Charges
A crime punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison is a felony. All other crimes are misdemeanors.
What is the difference between a Felony vs a Misdemeanor charge?
Felony
Misdemeanor
In Massachusetts, a misdemeanor is any criminal offense that does not carry the potential for state prison time. The maximum sentence for a misdemeanor is 2 1/2 years in the House of Corrections, which is a jail.
Charges Across Districts
2018-2022
Charges Across Districts Comparison
2018-2022
Types of Charges by District
2018-2022
Race:
American Indian or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
Arrests by Offense & Race 2018-2022
Understanding who is being charged with a crime in relation to racial or ethnic groups in districts such as Boston, Chicopee, Everett, Fitchburg, Framingham, Lynn, Lowell, Malden, Methuen, Quincy, Revere, Southbridge, and Taunton. Cambridge, Holyoke, and Lawrence are excluded because data regarding race was not provided in their PRRs. Inequities that occur in each district will identify discriminatory treatment or poor data collection practices.
Racial & Ethnic Disparity
Race & Ethnicity
Racial Disproportionality Rates 2018-2022
Calculating the ratio of the percent of a specific racial group’s base population in comparison to their arrest percentage. An arrest percentage is divided by the base population to determine the disproportionality rate for a specific racial group. The Department of Human Services was used as a reference for the calculations.
Arrest %: Using arrest data acquired by FOIA requests to determine the racial composition of student arrests in each district.
Divided By
Base population %: Using the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) enrollment data per school year to determine the overall racial composition of students by district.
District Disproportionality Rate
District Disproportionality Average
Calculating Racial Disparity Ratio
Understanding the proportionality of school-based arrests of racial groups against the underlying population in districts such as Boston, Chicopee, Everett, Fitchburg, Framingham, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, Quincy, Revere, Southbridge, and Taunton.
Numerator: Disproportionality rate of one racial group
Divided By
Denominator: Disproportionality rate of one racial group
For example, the calculated average disproportionality rate of Black students is 2.8 divided by the disproportionality rate of White students which is 1.6. This calculation shows that Black students are arrested at a rate 1.8 times higher than White students.
Racial Inequalities Across Districts
Arrests by Offense & Ethnicity 2018 - 2022
Ethnicity:
Hispanic or Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The term, "Spanish origin," can be used in addition to Hispanic or Latino.
Not Hispanic or Latino
Ethnic Inequalities Across Districts
District Disproportionality Average
Ethnic Disproportionality Rates 2018-2022
Calculating the ratio of the percent of a specific racial group’s base population in comparison to their arrest percentage. An arrest percentage is divided by the base population to determine the disproportionality rate for a specific racial group.
Arrest %: Using arrest data acquired by FOIA requests to determine the ethnic composition of student arrests in each district.
Divided By
Base population %: Using the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) enrollment data per school year to determine the overall ethnic composition of students by district.