In an attempt to strengthen school safety, School Resource Officers (SROs) began getting placed in schools to help. As SROs have increased throughout the world, it has become a worldwide argument if they are providing safety or not. In many aspects, people are unbothered by SROs in schools.
School Resources Officers have become a main part of school safety over the last couple years. They are assigned to schools to provide more safety in case of emergencies. Many people think SROs are good for schools and are necessary to have in order to have school safety. SROs provide more intense safety for school than regular administration. Because SROs are helping school safety, more money is being given towards that department. In this article the author says, “With shootings becoming more frequent on and near school grounds across the US, members of Congress have proposed bills that would increase funding for school resource officers (SROs), or police officers stationed in school settings”. The article explains that annual expenditures on SROs is $2.12 billion nationally. Also, “One proposed bill would increase SRO spending by $500 million per year (or $10 per student), and if funds were distributed evenly across students, the increase represents a larger amount than what is currently being spent on social workers per student in some states”. This article represents that SRO’s provide more safety, which should lead to more money in their department. More money towards School Resource Officers would give more money to individual student safety. Overall, SROs are a good addition to the school environment for safety, and as a peer.
Fig. 1, Graph, CRS Report 5 July, 2018
This graph shows the increase and decrease in at-school homicides over time. The article is about SROs’ effect in schools, and it also pictures this graph for evidence.
At Soddy Daisy High School, I spoke to Deputy Wigley and Assistant Principal, Jared Hensley. I asked Mr. Hensley how the school environment and safety changed since Deputy Wigley became our SRO. He said, “Deputy Wigley is very detail oriented and does a very good job of being aware of surroundings and potential issues throughout the day. He not only serves as a safety resource for faculty and students, but goes out of his way to serve as a fifth administrator, going above and beyond his own job requirements. The open door policy gives students an opportunity to rely on him for advice not only in law, but with academics and life in general”. Hensley shared his overall respect and thankfulness for Deputy Wigley.
When I spoke to Deputy Wigley, the first question I asked was how school safety has changed over the past 25 years. He stated that “School safety has changed tremendously over the past 25 years. It’s gained leaps and bounds of new safety protocols and procedures that did not exist or were thought of 25 years ago. Safety measures have been implemented throughout the school building to ensure the safety of the staff, students, and parents. Safety measures mean: state of the art cameras, electronic locking doors, and monitoring devices on each door.” My second question for Deputy Wigley was his main focus as a School Resource Officer. He said, “First and foremost, my main focus is the safety of students and staff, but while doing that, have the chance to not only mentor, coach, and parent students who might not have that in their life”. Deputy Wigley provides a warming atmosphere where students can feel comfortable, but protected adequately.
When focusing on how to prevent school shootings, fire alarms have recently come into perspective. According to Courtney Goins from WDEF News 12, “Tennessee House advances bill addressing fire alarms in response to Nashville school shooting”. An intruder came into a Nashville Elementary School and fired a gun where the smoke caused the fire alarm to go off. Legislation is making all public and private schools develop a policy that school faculty could follow in case of a fire alarm activating from a school shooter.
In my opinion, School Resource Officers are very beneficial towards a school environment. I believe that they provide a different type of safety than regular administrators. I believe that students should feel safer with an SRO in the school. My experience with SROs has always been good, and I have always felt safer in school. An article I read explained how an SRO saved many students’ lives one day. He warned authorities, then pursued the gunman and stopped him after the gunman fired at him multiple times. To stop him, the SRO had to fire at the gunman but he did not have any life-threatening injuries. After this, the suspect was taken into custody and later faced three charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm. In the article it says, “Howell said he “could not be more proud” of the officer who ran toward the suspect and said his “heroic actions” saved “countless” lives”. People around the SRO were very thankful of his actions in leading the school to safety. This makes my belief much more prominent in having SROs in school. School Resource Officers make a big impact on school safety, and overall safety of the schools environment.
Overall, SROs have changed safety in schools and some even have great impacts on student lives. SROs allow schools to be a safer environment for faculty and students to be in everyday.
