New Working Paper: School Closures Significantly Reduced Arrests of Black and Latinx Urban Youth

BU Assistant Professor of Sociology, Jessica Simes, released a new working paper on how school closures during the pandemic significantly reduced arrests of Black and Latinx urban youth. This working paper was co-authored with Tori Cowger (FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health) and Jaquelyn L. Jahn (The Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health.)

Paper Abstract:

Police arrests are common events for youth of color, contributing to increased risk of arrest in adulthood and population health inequities. Although schools are important sites for youth criminalization, research focuses on within-school mechanisms, with limited analysis of hot spots policing in surrounding school areas. Using COVID-19 school closures as an interruption to police activity and in-person school attendance, we estimate Black youth weekly arrests fell from 43.6 to 16.8 per 100,000, vs. 3.57 to 2.17 per 100,000 among White youth. Youth arrest rates declined during two school closure periods: at the start of the pandemic and Summer 2019. A spatial analysis shows Black and Latinx youth experience a higher percentage of arrests near schools than White youth. Our findings show school closures significantly reduce arrests of urban youth of color, and reforms addressing youth criminalization and structural racism should consider the joint spatial context of schools and policing.