Redefining School Safety and Policing

Jeffrey D. Yarbrough is a public servant with over 28 years of law enforcement experience. He currently serves as Chief of Police for the City of Hutto, Texas. Prior to joining Hutto Police Department, he created and served as the inaugural Police Chief for the Round Rock Independent School District Police Department in Round Rock, Texas, where he was responsible for the safety of over 51,000 students, 7,000 staff members, and visitors to over 70 campuses and facilities. Jeffrey oversaw every level of safety, security, and law enforcement services for the district. Jeffrey previously served as the inaugural Chief of Police for the Bastrop Independent School District. He also served as a sergeant in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office in the Public Integrity Unit. Jeffrey was the former Chief of Police and Assistant City Manager for the City of Tulia, Texas. He served as Senior Investigator for the State Bar of Texas and Sergeant in the Criminal Prosecution Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office where he investigated numerous murder and capital murder cases. For his work, Jeffrey received the 2022 State of Texas Law Enforcement Achievement Award for Professional Achievement through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement at the Texas State Capitol House of Representatives. In addition, he received a proclamation from the Texas Senate in recognition of his professional achievements in school safety. Jeffrey received the 2022 Texas A&M University Outstanding Alumni-Early Career Award from the School of Education and Human Development. The award was received for the Four Pillars of School Safety and Policing model along with the Community S.A.F.E. Project. The early career award is granted once a year to those who have made outstanding contributions within their chosen fields across their community, state, and the nation through professional service, public service, and/or civic activities in less than 10 years of receiving their degree. Less than 1% of Texas A&M graduates receive the award. Jeffrey is the first police officer and police chief to be bestowed this prestigious honor. Chief Yarbrough possesses a master’s degree in Educational Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University at College Station. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Brownsville where he received a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice.

Preface

1 Public Education and the Emergence of Modern Policing in the United States

2 Intrinsic Issues in Policing

3 Zero-tolerance Policies and the Culture-to-prison Pipeline

4 Advent of School Policing

5 The Art of School Policing

6 Examination and Contributing Factors to School Violence

7 Alternatives to School Policing

8 Four Pillars of School Safety and Policing

9 Safety and Security

10 Threat Assessment

11 Student Safety through an Equity Lens

12 Behavioral Health

13 Student Advocacy

14 Mindset Shift for Full Implementation

Response to Specific Examples

Index