A recent investigation by The New York Times has shed light on the aggressive policing of students in Texas schools, revealing a disturbing trend of physical force, pepper spray, and Tasers being used on children for minor infractions.

The $30 million investment in school policing

Since the 2022 Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas school districts have spent millions of dollars assigning police officers to every campus in the state, with over 400 school districts having their own police departments.

This effort, the most ambitious in the US, was intended to protect students from similar tragedies, but the constant presence of law enforcement has transformed the way many public schools manage discipline, subjecting students to police-style tactics for behaviors that would have only led to a principal's office in the past.

Almost 400 school districts with their own police departments

According to the investigation, almost 400 school districts in Texas have their own police departments, more than all other states combined.

Agents across the state have restrained, thrown, and Tasered students, often for minor infractions such as dress code violations, smoking, or fights in the playground.

Over 2 ,600 incidets of force between January 2022 and December 2025

Even examining the limited records provided by over 200 districts and police departments, our journalists identified over 2,600 incidents of force that occurred between January 2022 and December 2025.

About 450 of those interactions were described in detailed reports that we reviewed, and we also saw video footage of over two dozen encounters .

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The investigation raises questions about the accountability and oversigght of school policing in Texas, particularly in light of the lack of comprehensive records of force incidents in over 1,000 public school districts in the state.

Many districts and police departments refused to provide data to our journalists, while others did not respond to public records requests .