
Below is a commentary that was published in The Roanoke Times. It was written by Roanoke Police Chief Tim Jones. It is titled "What is a SRO?"
On
Aug. 21, the children of Roanoke returned to school where they were
greeted by a variety of dedicated personnel. Teachers, administrators,
support personnel and the school resource officer, commonly referred to
as the “SRO” were all present. We are fortunate to have a
well-established partnership between Roanoke City Schools and the
Roanoke Police Department that extends over the last three decades. I
have seen this collaborative effort expand and build relationships that
are both professional and personal with school members and students.
Over these many years some of the student contacts made by those early
SRO’s influenced children to become police officers themselves or
changed the course of their lives by the relationships established. And
so we move forward acknowledging that our best resources, our children,
benefit when we as a community collaboratively play active parts in the
lives of our children.
Recent
questions and concerns over the role of a school resource officer have
come up. I want to provide a general overview and establish the priority
of work for the SROs on a daily basis. In Roanoke, for each of the five
middle schools there is one SRO assigned. The high school assignments
provide for two SROs at each facility, bringing the total number of
officers to nine positions. Their salaries are reimbursed contractually
between Roanoke City Schools and the City of Roanoke. The assignment to a
School Resource Officer position comes after a screening of interested
candidates who express a desire to work in the school environment. These
officers are then subjected to a rigorous review process before final
selections are made. There is also a one-week SRO training class as
established by the State of Virginia through the Department of Criminal
Justice Services. School Resource Officers perform at their best when
they have a broad and diverse experience base. They must possess a
comprehensive knowledge of law enforcement principles, school system
familiarity supported by their SRO training and the desire to engage
young people in a positive atmosphere. The average tenure of an SRO in
Roanoke is 12 years.
Beyond the law enforcement role of
keeping our children safe, a School Resource Officer serves as an
informal mentor, counselor and educator of the laws of Virginia. With
these responsibilities as the primary focus, an SRO spends much of their
day engaged in formal or informal conversation with students, teachers,
staff and administration. Archie Freeman III, principal of William
Fleming High School, underscores the value of the School Resource
Officer: “School Resource Officers are important for our safety and
security. As we know this is our number one priority for the Roanoke
City Schools. Students are not able to learn if the environment is not
safe and secure. Our SROs build positive relationships with students and
staff. SROs work in collaboration with Administration to ensure all
aspects of the school day is conducive to learning. It takes thinking
outside the box, being engaged with the students, and being visible at
all times. Our SRO attends extracurricular activities and sporting
events. This continues to promote the interest they have in the
students.”
The SRO does not
serve as a disciplinarian and is called upon to assist in their law
enforcement capacity only when circumstances dictate immediate
intervention that will prevent a physical assault or injury to others.
Incidents during the school year that can lead to criminal charges being
filed against students (or, on occasions, parents) are rare, given a
student population of approximately 13,500 children, with only the most
egregious situations proceeding to full criminal prosecution. The SRO
and school administration work together to seek the most appropriate
intervention opportunities for incidents involving students. As we enter
the 2018/2019 school year, arrests within the system continue to
decline over the last five school years.
This
trend would not be possible without the joint efforts of Roanoke City
Schools and the police department working collaboratively to leverage
every possible asset toward the success of all children. Proactive
measures to enhance the physical safety of our school facilities and the
review of crisis intervention protocol have been underway prior to the
start of the school year. Moving forward into this school year Roanoke
City Schools has added Chris Perkins as the Director of School Security
and the Roanoke Sheriff’s Office’s has extended a commitment to assign
additional personnel to the elementary schools in the City of Roanoke.
These changes did not occur by happenstance, but rather out of concern
for and commitment to the safety of our children. Recognizing the need,
the City of Roanoke and Roanoke Public Schools have “stepped up” to
extend the blanket of safety. The SRO working in concert with school
personnel provides our community the conduit to better stay abreast of
the changing social circumstances in our society and in the lives of our
children. To this end the SRO is just one of many advocates for the
children, but one whose primary focus is upon the overall safety and
success of our school system.