SRO’s in the Building

By: Troy Fa’Atuai-McCuen

According to Madison Gerdes article, “Policing in Schools” Student Resource Officers (SRO’s) are in around 42% of public schools and 10.9% are sworn in law officers. The SRO’s that are in schools across the country are there to help protect students from harm and to maintain order, safety, and security. But not anyone can just become an SRO.

“SRO’s are carefully selected individuals,” said Culver Community Resource Officer Ryleigh Carr.

An SRO goes through 4 years of special training. They have to be cooperative with children, de-escalate any situation, and think of what the best decision is to make during an emergency. These key factors aren’t the only things that are important to being a good SRO, a major component is the drive and willingness to be one.

“I’ve been an SRO for a few months, because I came from a police department, so it’s new for me,” said Culver Community Resource Officer Brian Martin. “I got into this because I thought coming here I could hang out with some of the kids and try to get them to expand their horizons so they can figure things out.”

SRO’s are very important people as they have a great influence on kids and how they feel about school. Recent studies, according to Alisha Kirby’s article “Research Weighs Pros and Cons of Policing in Schools” have found that SRO’s have reduced fights by 30% and have increased detection of firearms by 150% in schools. They are a very important part in the schools safety and security; it also reflects back on the staff and superintendent.

“Developing our own Police Department (TCPD) so that our school has SRO’s is to have influence in many areas but the overarching is safety and security for all individuals in our school community.  Our Police/SRO’s are here to build relationships with all staff and students so that in times of crisis they are trusted and respected to maintain our school community’s security,” said superintendent Karen Shuman. “They build relationships and trust by positively interacting in various settings with adults and students such as in reading books, being a participant at recess, training students and staff, attending events, and making connections with outside agencies who further protect us. They are a positive influence on our school and students in every way possible.”

This new SRO program and police force is important to Culver Community because it makes our community feel more protected and safe. The real question is how do the SRO’s feel about this?

 “I like it because I see that I’m helping kids work things out, telling them about different colleges and states,” said Officer Martin. “My kid is going to college out of state, even from Illinois. So I’m explaining what college is like, that there are other colleges other than the ones that are close to here, so that’s what it’s like for me. I like the idea that kids and students can get different ideas from different people.”

SRO’s are here to help students feel safe, secure, and motivated to help them focus on their work. These selfless actions may go overlooked and may even be underlooked, but how do these students feel about these selfless actions?

“SRO’s are pretty nice, there’s nothing bad about them. I think that they’re here to help protect us,” said senior Anthony (Tony) Sommers, “I have nothing bad to say about them, they’re pretty nice to me. Honestly I think they help.”