NYT: Cops in Texas Schools Are Getting 'Heavy-Handed'

Texas poured billions into putting armed officers in every public school after the 2022 Uvalde massacre. Now, a joint investigation by the New York Times and the San Antonio Express-News finds that in practice, that safety push has also meant pepper spray, stun guns, and handcuffs used on kids for behavior that once would have led to detention, not a criminal charge. Reporters identified more than 2,600 use-of-force incidents from 2022 through 2025, including elementary students as young as 6 restrained or cuffed, teens body-slammed or shocked, and at least four cases where officers drew their guns on students.

The investigation describes officers hog-tying a 10-year-old with a behavioral disorder, kneeing a girl in the face while breaking up a fight, and using a Taser on a suspended 17-year-old trying to grab his house keys. Many of the encounters began with vaping, minor fights, or even breaches of school dress code, then escalated after adults called in police. Oversight is thin: Texas doesn't require force reporting in schools unless someone is shot, and no state agency routinely reviews what the Times deems "heavy-handed" incidents. More here from the Times, which has an accompanying piece on the methodology used to document such cases.