School Resource Officer (S.R.O) Program
The School Resource Officer program continues to have a positive impact on our community. The primary focus of the program is to provide a safer school environment. Effort continues to implement, practice, and improve school lockdown procedures for crisis situations. Several of our SROs are also involved in training other agencies and schools within the state about these procedures. A longtime goal was accomplished this year when Sioux Falls Christian School volunteered to participate in a community-wide drill to practice and test our parent-student reunification plan. This drill involved over 100 participants from several different agencies to help reunite over 100 middle school students who had been evacuated to another facility. The experience was invaluable and better prepares us if a situation like this would occur.
The SRO also is a valuable resource for the schools by providing a police presence and being able to share knowledge and experience in the classroom settings. The unit consists of 15 officers who are dedicated full-time to the schools. There are currently 11officers assigned to their respective middle or high schools. Four others are responsible for delivering presentations into the elementary setting. Three of them handle the majority of the I CAN classes and one handles the school safety assemblies. The SRO unit with these officers provides service to approximately 55 schools and other student agencies when the need arises. In 2010, over 1,000 cases were assigned to the SROs for follow-up ranging from runaways to assaults and narcotics. The SROs also have the responsibility of working at home football and basketball games in addition to school dances.
School Safety Officer
The school safety officer conducts programs in 24 public elementary and 12 parochial and private schools each year. These yearly programs include: “When You See a Bully,” “Street Smart Kids,” “Pedestrian Safety,” “Make the Right Call-9-1-1,” “Bicycle Safety,” and “Kid Escape.” One of the teaching tools used by the SROs is “Buddy the Safety Bug,” a talking Volkswagen Beetle police car. These programs reach over 11,000 children in preschool through fifth grade. Over 40 day cares are visited twice during the summer for child safety programs.
The SROs stay busy throughout the summer as well. Emphasis is put on training. Every officer in the unit was invited to attend a symposium sponsored by the Sioux Falls School District where nationally recognized keynote speaker Phil Chalmers presented training on school safety in regard to his book Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer. A highlight of the summer for about 240 I CAN program students is the Kids Camp. The SROs host a camp at each middle school where students get the opportunity to learn about the different aspects of police work to include SWAT, canine, and crime scene investigation. Some of the officers also work bike patrol and put in many hours on the bike trails as well as the downtown area. Other assignments they have assisted with include the training of new recruits, firearms range courses, and the child safety seat program.
