Police officers were placed in Iowa schools to keep students safe from violence, but the threat they most commonly deal with is illicit vaping, according to a report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa. The ACLU of Iowa used public records requests and federal data to study the impact of the increase in school resource officers (SROs) across school districts in the state. However, a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, in 2024 prompted state lawmakers to pass a bill designed to increase armed guards or law enforcement in schools. The ACLU of Iowa's survey found that there were 130 SROs employed across 78 school districts in Iowa, and that roughly a quarter of school districts in the state employed at least one SRO. ACLU of Iowa legal fellow Jacob Sarasin said he was also "shocked that 80 percent of school districts have no meaningful policy" on training requirements for SROs.