Black children and adults were the subjects of nearly all use of force incidents reported by Clark County School District Police Department last school year, district data shows.
School police used force on 21 people — 18 Black, two Hispanic and one white — in 11 incidents in the 2025-26 school year, according to the data.
Details about what occurred in those 11 incidents were not included with the data, but it did show officers used a chemical agent such as pepper spray 10 times and an electronic stun device once. Those pepper sprayed or tased by officers include 12 children who were younger than 18 and nine people who were 18 or older.
Black students comprised roughly 16 percent of the district’s student population last school year, but district data shows they may have been subjected to up to 85 percent of school police officers’ uses of force.
The data represents a racial disparity that Assemblymember Cecelia González said aligns with anecdotal experiences she has heard from Black families and youth in the valley. Release of the data was mandated by a new law that González, D-Las Vegas, sponsored in 2025.
“There needs to be meaningful and deep conversations about how to approach these situations differently,” González said. “We know from talking to the Black community and our youth just in general — and our youth of color — that they don’t feel safe when it comes to law enforcement on their campuses.”
In an email, district officials urged caution about drawing conclusions from a relatively small dataset, adding that its police department “continuously evaluates its operational policies, de-escalation protocols, and officer training programs.”
“CCSD has been very transparent about our work to train officers and staff members to provide interventions for all students before behavior escalates, as well as to recognize biases when working with students,” a district spokesperson said.
The district added: “CCSDPD officers evaluate every situation based strictly on behavior, threat level, and the immediate need to maintain safety or prevent harm, regardless of race or background. Every incident involving the use of force undergoes a thorough internal review to ensure compliance with department policy and state law.”
District’s data shows that almost all school police uses of force last year happened on district high school properties across the valley. Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas saw officers use pepper spray twice on its campus, the most of any school.
González said she hopes the data released under this new law will lead to future conversations about how police officers are operating in schools.
“There’s serious concerns that must be addressed when it comes to how our young people, specifically our Black youth, experience interactions with law enforcement,” González said, adding “We need to continue the conversations about how do we continue to build trust and accountability.”
Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.
