Why We Started

The community members of the Providence Alliance for Student Safety (PASS) coalition came together with the launch of the Counselors Not Cops campaign in December of 2018 at Providence City Hall.

• In the City of Providence, over 90% of students are students of color, and encompass a wide variety of populations, predominantly low-income students of color from Latinx, African American, and Southeast Asian backgrounds. Many of these students are also part of the LGBTQ+ community and/or are undocumented Youth. 

• Police disproportionately target and criminalize Black, Indigenous, Latinx and students of color, and students with disabilities.  For the well-being of young people in Providence, we need to begin investing in counselors and mental health resources.

• It is crucial to acknowledge the harm of the school-to-prison-pipeline and its impact nationwide to understand the urgent need to remove School Resource Officers (SROs) from all Providence Public Schools. Police don't make us safer. Despite decades of SRO presence in schools, no data shows that they improve student safety. Instead, SROs damage culture, negatively impact students’ academic success, and further traumatize students.

• Check out our page for more information and data on SRO arrests made in Providence Public Schools.

• Quote from student alumni: “When you walk in, there is an officer right there. Like I am being targeted, like I’m not a student but a criminal. You already get racially profiled in your neighborhood and then you see officers in school. And if you walk away, you are going to look suspicious.”