School Resource Officers

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS

The School Resource officer program provides the use of trained full-time Police Officers who will work within the educational system. The objectives of the School Recourse Officer Program is to promote and assist schools in providing a safe learning environment which will also improve relationships between law enforcement and the youth of today. The program attempts to promote a better understanding of the Law Enforcement Officers' role in society while educating students, parents, school personnel, and the community on important issues such as gangs, violent crime, drugs, and other related topics. The program also provides a positive role model in the educational system. The Primary focus of this program is directed toward education, rather than enforcement.

There is a National Association of School Resource Officers (N.A.S.R.O.). N.A.S.R.O. is a non-profit organization for school based law enforcement officers, school administrators, and school security/safety professionals working as partners to protect students, school faculty and staff and the schools they attend. The true and tested strength in the School Resource Officer program is that it is much more than a curriculum. The School Resource Officer concept can easily be adapted to the needs of any community, desiring safe schools, and effective community partnerships.

School based policing is the fastest growing area of law enforcement and N.A.S.R.O. is quickly approaching 9,000 members around the globe. N.A.S.R.O. takes great pride in being the first and most recognized organization for law enforcement officers assigned in school communities. W wide array of services and programs are available to assist members in developing the most effective program, for their community. (School Safety)

By training law enforcement to educate, counsel and protect school communities, the men and women of N.A.S.R.O. continue to lead by example and promote a positive image of law enforcement to the nations youth. N.A.S.R.O. has made itself available to communities and school districts around the nation in the development of effective school based law enforcement partnerships.

Research supports the importance of creating positive strengths in children as the most successful approach to preventing youth violence. We can increase a child's ability to be a responsible, caring, creative human being, and thereby contribute to a safe school climate. A comprehensive approach to school safety includes an effective safe school and crises response plan enhanced by a support system that fosters the mental health of students, builds the character of your people and has strong connections to the community. (School Safety)

Having a police officer at schools helps create a better relationship between kids and law enforcement. A lot of teens look at the police as a negative thing. The only contact they have with the police is if they are getting pulled over, or at a party that the police bust. At school kids always see the school resource officer witch helps them feel more comfortable around law enforcement.

Also, knowing that there is an officer at school at all times gives the students a sense of security. If there is an emergency they know that there is already an officer on the scene. Somebody may think twice about starting a fight or vandalizing something knowing that there is a police officer walking around the school.

It makes it a lot easier for students to report problems whether being a problem at school or home. No matter what the problem is, most kids are still at school every day. It is a lot easier to walk down to the office and talk to the officer about a problem, than finding time to call the police when they are alone, or getting to the police station, since half of the high schools are able to drive.

Having an officer at schools at all times also gives parents a sense of security and builds a better relationship with the local police department. Knowing that the local police department cares about the youth enough to put an officer on duty full time in school, parents don't have to be as worried sending there kids to school. It's not that uncommon anymore to here about a school shooting or a student bringing a gun to school.

Students are also being robbed at school. Some forget or don't lock up their lockers or cars. A lot of students set their lockers, witch means they set there locks after they close their locker so when they come back to it all they have to do is open it up. At BBCHS the school resource officer walks the halls and checks lockers and if he finds one set he takes all the things out of it and brings it down to his office. Students who set their lockers are just telling people to take their stuff. With ever kid having a cell phone and an IPOD these days, its not like they are losing

a thirty-dollar jacket or sweatshirt. Cell phones can cost over one hundred dollars and IPOD's can cost up to four hundred dollars.

There have been recent surveys taken by School Recourse officers. Just over fifty-five percent of officers are responsible for only one school, another seventeen percent for two schools, and five percent for three or four schools. Thirty-eight percent of the officers are assigned to cover high schools; twenty-three percent cover middle schools, three percent cover elementary schools, and thirty-six percent cover combinations of schools. Seventy-nine percent of officers are working in open-ended assignments with nine percent working in schools as part of departmental rotational assignments. Others assignments are in terms of contract lengths or grand programs. (Model Policy and Procedures)

The School Resource officer either wears uniform, casual clothes, or both. Sixty percent of the officers always wear their uniforms while working in their schools, six percent always wear casual clothes, and thirty four percent wear either uniforms or casual clothes. An important part of an officer's uniform is his or her gun, and ninety seven percent carry their guns while working at their schools.

Eighty-nine percent of officers do not attend roll call at their departments when they begin their shifts but instead begin their days at their schools. Eighty-eight percent have offices in their schools. Twenty-five percent of officers work forty hours per week in their schools; another nineteen percent work fifty hours per week; and the remaining officers indicated they worked anywhere from five hours per week to seventy hours per week in their schools. (Model Policy and Procedures)

The training of School Resource Officers in states such as Florida and North Carolina focuses on three roles these officers ideally fulfill while working