Classrooms right here in the bay area. We discovered kids are getting criminal records for what some describe as just childish misbehavior. Tonight, we investigate how skin color or disability can increase the chance of your own son or daughter getting arrested at school. Adrian crosby seems happiest with his feathered friends in the backyard. Hes a visual learner. Few year assigned him a project, his parents bought these chickens. While adrian looks, sounds, and plays like your typical teenager, he struggles socially. Adrian is autistic. And his mother, aida crosby, says he has trouble grasping certain concepts. [ no audio ] 3 1 2 years ago, adrian was in his school in san jose, when he used a small lock to etch the letters adrx on the sidewalk. The letters measured just six inches tall. But the school believes they were big enough to involve Campus Police. Adrian was arrested at 13. [ no audio ] you thought leaving your initials would leave your legacy . [ no audio ] how did you react . [ no audio ] and were you crying . [ no audio ] he wasnt handcuffed, but he was given this juvenile citation, which means he now has an arrest on his criminal record. Adrians mom reported this video the day her son was arrested. The School Resource officer is with the San Jose Police department, paid to place officers on campus. [ no audio ] to find out how often schools call police on students, we collected data from 20 of the Largest School districts in the bay area, home to over 370,000 children. Our investigation found those schools sent more than 1800 students to police during the 20132014 school year. While children with disabilities made up 10 of the population, they totalled 27 of all students referred to Law Enforcement. Black children represented 9 of the population. But 16 of all the students referred to police. [ no audio ] this attorney is with the aclu and believes those rates were made worse after budget cuts left california schools with fewer counselors. So educators started relying on School Resource officers to discipline children. Nationally, more than 1 Million Students attend a school with an officer but no counselor. [ no audio ] hes seen it has. Her team at the Law Foundation provides legal advocacy for children and teens. Many of their chinlt clients w arrested while at school. [ no audio ] so in some cases 6yearolds are getting the Police Called on them . [ no audio ] don bridges is with the National Association of School Resource officers and says police should only be called for serious safety concerns, not routine misbehavior. [ no audio ] he says schools that choose to have police on campus should a written agreement to outline an officers responsibility. [ no audio ] the bay areas nine counties are home to 160 School Districts. We spent months collecting data from each one, and discovered 0 30 of the districts regularly have officers at school. Nearly half fail to define the role of their campus officers. Thats the case with adrians old School District. It does not have an agreement with police to detail the responsibilities of officers. Dan Caldwell Holden works with the San Jose Unified School district. [ no audio ] but that is whats happening. [ no audio ] but in a Single School year, 283 kids in your district were referred to police. So it is happening. [ no audio ] and do you know that this can give them a criminal record . [ no audio ] so you have no idea that these kids are getting criminal records . [ no audio ] dont you have discipline . [ no audio ] but that is the reality. Our own analysis found nationwide schools call police on their students more than 200,000 times a year. And 43 of those students are in elementary or middle school. [ no audio ] chief of police for the Oakland Unified School district says his own departments lengthy Job Description for campus officers not only protects students but also Law Enforcement. [ no audio ] the chief says his 20 officers are best used as mentors, not disciplinarians. [ no audio ] she has the adult juvenile department in san jose county and says when children are put in the juvenile system at an early age, they begin to identify as criminals. Juvenile citations, like the one adrian received, are equivalent to an arrest, so kids are left with criminal records. Studenting ths then have to mee probation officers. For roughly 70 of juvenile cases, she says her probation officers decide the offense isnt serious enough to get referred to criminal charges. Even when a case is dropped, much of the damage is already done. The child can still be left with a criminal record . [ no audio ] is that fair . [ no audio ] coming up next [ no audio ] are School Officers getting enough training . How much can you learn in 30 minutes . [ no audio ] plus, the bay area School Districts that call police on students more than nearly every other School System in the country. Aida crosby is trying to erase what she went years hoping to forget. Shes on the phone with the juvenile Probation Department to request an application to seal her sons criminal record. [ no audio ] a probation officer ultimately decided to close adrians case since it wasnt a serious case, but that officer never mentioned that her son would still have a criminal record. Ada didnt know until we told her. Thats when she called the Probation Department. [ no audio ] our investigation revealed shes not alone. [ no audio ] we were across town with ralene when she found out her son kye also has a criminal record. [ no audio ] not something that you think a student should have been arrested for . [ no audio ] as a freshman, kye did flips across the field at lunch. How long do you think you were on the field . [ no audio ] he was suspended for four days, but a Campus Police officer also gave him this, a juvenile citation. Did you ever imagine that would lead to you having to meet with a probation officer . No. He was arrested fortre trespassing and disturbing the peace. He was cited at san jose unified. That School District does not have a written policy to detail what School Officers should or should not be doing on campus. Do you think schools are relying too heavily on police to discipline students . [ no audio ] Sergeant Jason pierce. [ no audio ] so in one School District, it could get sent to the principals office, but in another, he could get a criminal record . [ no audio ] San Jose Police is now working with area high schools to craft detailed Job Descriptions for campus officers by next school year. That would Impact Security for over 67,000 students at 34 schools. [ no audio ] our reporting revealed that while the department of justice recommends 40 hours of additional training for schoolbased officers, san jose p. D. Only provided a half hour. How much can you really learn in 30 minutes . [ no audio ] three months after we sat down with the sergeant, he and other officers from his department traveled to Southern California to receive those 40 hours of training in schoolbased policing. Coming up next how many times did your school call the police on you . [ no audio ] does a childs skin color or a disability affect their chance of getting arrested . We investigate which students are most at risk. Plus, our investigation forces schools to make major changes. Well tell you which bay area School District called police on students more than 1700 times in a Single School year. We discovered one bay area School District ranked among the top in the nation for how often it called the police on students. At more than 16,000 School Districts, east side union School District in san jose ranked 14th. It called police 1,745 times. During the 20112012 school year. Chris thump is the superintendent. Can you justify where Police Officers were used so often . [ no audio ] are you saying theres more than 1700 incidents, either involved drugs or weapons . [ no audio ] the u. S. Department of education doesnt require schools to release why students were referred to police. But a much larger School Districts didnt come close to east side union. Oakland unified enrolled nearly 15,000 nor students than east side union. But only referred 12 students to Law Enforcement. Remember, east side union referred over 1700. [ no audio ] two months after our investigation aired, he unveiled a new district wide discipline policy, that dramatically limits when administrators should involve police. [ no audio ] and he credits our investigation. [ no audio ] but how students are disciplined is still largely left to individual School Districts. So policies can vary widely. Thats meant hurdle after hurdle for 16yearold jason johnson. [ no audio ] a High School Junior is on the track team, a star football player, and has a 3. 5 gpa. But he also has a learning disability and struggles emotionally. At times, he suffers from depression, which made middle school especially difficult. He attended dallas ranch middle and got in trouble for fighting and making threats. How many times did your school call the police on you . [ no audio ] jason received four juvenile citations in middle school, leaving him with a criminal record. He was just 13 at the time . Sandra is his mother. [ no audio ] how did it change jason . [ no audio ] officials at jasons School District didnt respond to our request for comment. The naacp sued that district last year for failing to address civil Rights Violations against black children. In california, black students with a disability are 4 1 2 times more likely to get arrested in school than a white student with a disability. And 16 times more likely compared to a white student without a disability, according to data we obtained from the department of education. [ no audio ] sand are says after educators used police to discipline her son, jason was left angry and emotionally scarred. [ no audio ] youve seen that happen with your other son . Yes. Jasons older brother, jalen, was born with Developmental Disabilities and has been in and out of jail. [ no audio ] and do you worry the same thing could happen to jason . Yes. But the High School Junior has his sights set on college. He would like to play football and study psychology at the university of oregon. But realizes hell likely have to keep dodging hurdles to get there. Coming up, how our reporting prompted the white house to take action. The Obama Administration responds to our investigation before leaving office. Just before leaving the white house, the Obama Administration tries teaching a lesson to the countrys more than 95,000 public schools. In letters, the department of education and the Justice Department urged educators to stop overrelying on school Police Officers, saying unnecessary arrests and improper involvement can have a negative impact on students. The federal government pleaded with School Districts across the country to create written agreements with Law Enforcement to detail the role of campus officers. So we traveled near to d. C. To hear directly from the Obama Administration in hopes of learning what these new policy recommendations could mean for the safety and security of students in the bay area. [ no audio ] we spoke with the nations secretary of education. We talked about the new recommendations and our investigation into the misuse of School Officers. We found some schools in the bay area where students are getting criminal records before they even hit puberty. [ no audio ] and you think that affects the safety of some students . [ no audio ] in michigan last year, this 7yearold was handcuffed at his afterschool program. And in kentucky, this School Resource officer is now at the center of a federal lawsuit after handcuffing an 8yearold. We discovered nearly 230,000 students attended schools that failed to define the roles of campus officers. Does that surprise you . [ no audio ] as for adrian, that infamous signature, soap and water wiped it right off. Much harder to erase was the impact. [ no audio ] adrian still gets nervous going beyond his backyard. How do you think the school should have handled that situation . [ no audio ] you think you could have learned your lesson without the police being there . Yes. A Juvenile Court judge can by law, adrian cant start the process until he turns 18. Ada says she often cries herself to sleep, worrying about his future. [ no audio ] the current secretary of education, betsy devos, wouldnt comment. You can find out information about every distribute in the country. Learn which have officers on campus and how often police are called at nbcbayarea. Com. Thats all for tonight. On what have of all of us here at nbc bay area, thanks for watching. We invite you back here every night, where we investigate. E of wow savings. Wow means you save 50 or more. There are three stages of wow. Denial. Is this price right . Acceptance. And boooyah wait for it boooyah has three os. Grocery outlet bargain market its buy one, get one free on snickers and twix miniatures. The summer movie season is officially here, and we have your guide to all the biggest blockbusters, hi, everyone, and welcome to a special edition of access hollywood. Im liz hernandez. Goldies big screen return af15 years away. How we tempted chris pratt to stray from his guardians diet. And we start with a movie bringing heat to the beach. Baywatch headed up by the sexiest guy on land and sea, dwayne johnson. Its going to be big, edgy, funny. Welcome to baywatch. You can take all the elements that i put in my movies, including my dirty sense of humor and baywatch is the most successful intellectual property in the world. We have an opportunity to rebrand it, not it out of the park. Its a brandnew baywatch, and the beach never looked so good. The rock and his hard rock lifeguards, with zac efron adding extra muscles. Ive got two g