Frequently Asked Questions about SRO's
What is a School Resource Officer?
The school resource officer (SRO) is a carefully selected, specifically trained, and properly equipped full-time law enforcement officer with sworn law enforcement authority, trained in school-based law enforcement and crisis response, assigned by the employing law enforcement agency to work in the school using community-oriented policing concepts.
What are appropriate roles of school resource officers?
The goals of well-founded SRO programs include providing safe learning environments in our nation’s schools, providing valuable resources to school staff members, fostering positive relationships with youth, developing strategies to resolve problems affecting youth and protecting all students, so that they can reach their fullest potentials. NASRO considers it a best practice to use a “triad concept” to define the three main roles of school resource officers: educator (i.e. guest lecturer), informal counselor/mentor, and law enforcement officer.
What evidence exists that school resource officers are valuable?
Researchers at Canada’s Carleton University conducted a two-year study of an SRO program in the Regional Municipality of Peel. In their report, published by Routledge in 2019, they concluded that for every dollar invested in the program, a minimum of $11.13 of social and economic value was created. The report lists numerous benefits of the program, including:
Prevention or minimization of property damage in the school and surrounding areas.
Prevention of student injuries and even death due to violence, drug overdoses, etc.
Reduction of the need for schools to call 911.
Reduction of the likelihood that a student will get a criminal record.
Increase of the likelihood that students (particularly those with mental health issues) will get the help they need from the social service and health care systems.
Increase in feelings of safety among students and staff.
A database of the National Police Foundation’s Averted School Violence project is full of case studies that describe similar SRO interventions. A 2020 report, “School Resource Officers: Averted School Violence Special Report”, describes 12 incidents from that database.
Several times a month during each academic year, news stories from outlets around the U.S. report on SROs learning of and confiscating firearms from students.
Do school resource officers contribute to a school-to-prison pipeline?
No. Carefully selected, specially trained school resource officers who follow NASRO’s best practices do not arrest students for disciplinary issues that would be handled by teachers and/or administrators if the SROs were not there. On the contrary, SROs help troubled students avoid involvement with the juvenile justice system. In fact, wide acceptance of NASRO best practices is one reason that the rates of juvenile arrests throughout the U.S. fell during a period when the proliferation of SROs increased (see To Protect and Educate: The School Resource Officer and the Prevention of Violence in Schools).
DARE, its not what your parents had
If you have any other questions about SRO's and their Duties and Responsibilities, please reach out and I'll get back to you with an answer as soon as I can.