Several Milwaukee Public Schools students shared their concerns that school resource officers have enforced school rules and not just criminal activity – something both MPS and the Milwaukee Police Department say should not happen.
They said that it’s a development they feared when school resource officers – MPD officers assigned to MPS – were deployed to the school district in March 2025. That followed a court order tied to Wisconsin Act 12, a 2023 law requiring at least 25 officers in schools.
“Have you heard of the school-to-prison pipeline?” asked Perry Perkins, a 16-year-old student at Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School. “This is what it’s like,” Perkins said.
School rules vs. crimes
Payton Bone, a 15-year-old Riverside University High School student, said she challenged an officer who tried to enforce school rules…