Partnerships. School Resource Officer (SRO) programs are, by definition, built upon partnerships. The school-based police officers’ partners are school administrators — principals at the building level, superintendents at the executive level. In properly managed SRO programs, these partnerships are formalized in written Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements. These MOUs are typically signed by school boards […]
Blog Archives
In times of racial, community unrest with police, schools need quality School Resource Officer (SRO) police programs more than ever
As communities across the nation grapple with race and civil unrest with their police, children and police need to come together to collaboratively understand one another, their relationships, and their communities. There is no better form of true community policing than properly designed and implemented School Resource Officer (SRO) school-based policing programs. School boards, administrators […]
Children with Special Needs and the School Resource Officer (SRO)
Numerous incidents of questionable interactions between School Resource Officers (SROs) or local police officers and children with special needs have shocked the public conscience in recent years. These unsuccessful events, often recorded by students and posted on social media, have understandably drawn the attention of the national news media and education leaders. We are often […]
Spring Valley High School police – student altercation analysis: A failure of administration and School Resource Officer (SRO) best practices
The viral video of a South Carolina School Resource Officer (SRO) dragging a female student out of a classroom chair raises as many questions about a failure of school administration as it raises questions about school officer tactics and best practices in school-based policing. Three wrongs a disaster makes “This situation was a no-win as […]
School officer shoots burglar suspect; school police not 2nd class
The shooting of a suspected burglar by a Pasadena (Texas) school police officer appears to have triggered an immediate scrutiny of school police officers as much as it did a scrutiny of the shooting itself. The suspect, an eighth-grader, was shot by the officer who responded to a school trailer burglar alarm at 12:30 a.m. […]
Why adequate supervision is critical to good school safety
A female is allegedly raped in a gym restroom. A student is assaulted in a hallway during class change. A stranger is found in an elementary school restroom. The first question raised by parents, the media and perhaps eventually lawyers is: “Was supervision adequate?” The answer to that question must be assessed on a case-by-case […]
What Parents Expect After a Shooting & Pipe Bombs at School
A 14-year-old South Carolina high school student shoots at a school resource officer (SRO). He has two pipe bombs in his backpack. A search of the student’s home finds a wide array of items including shotgun and handgun shells, multiple cigarette lighters, exploded bomb pieces, 14 carbon dioxide cartridges, and the list goes on. Authorities later find […]
Gunman at TN School: Do You Want Police or a Climate Survey?
A 62-year-old gunman pointed a .380 semi-automatic gun in a Tennessee Principal’s face yesterday. The School Resource Officer (SRO) drew her gun and shielded the Principal’s body with her own. The principal, Melanie Riden, was able to flee the area. The SRO, Sheriff’s Deputy Carolyn Gudger, lured the gunman into the empty high school cafeteria — a more contained […]
Tying Educators’ Hands In School Safety Efforts
Chuck Hibbert is a national school safety consultant (including for my company) and 21-year-veteran school district administrator over school security and school police services for a 15,000 student district in Indiana. Chuck takes issue with ““Taking Safety Too Far: The Ill-Defined Role Police Play in Schools,” February 24th commentary article in Education Week by authors and civil rights advocates Johanna Wald […]
Anti-School Police Commentary Paints False School Safety Picture
In ““Taking Safety Too Far: The Ill-Defined Role Police Play in Schools,” a February 24th commentary article in Education Week, authors and civil rights advocates Johanna Wald and Lisa Thurau presented what I believe to be a very skewed misrepresentation of school resource officers (SROs), school police, and administrators. I responded with a letter to the editor […]