The most impactful work of a School Resource Officer (SRO) happens without fanfare or general awareness. Yet too often, there are misconceptions about the role of an effective SRO in K-12 schools as just security guards rather than prevention partners. Working together with staff and students, School Resource Officers can become essential members of school teams for stronger student wellbeing outcomes.
Table of Contents
What Do School Resource Officers (SRO) Do?
Before exploring why SROs need to be a part of the student wellbeing equation at schools, it’s important to understand the role of SROs. Their responsibility in a school setting functions differently from traditional law enforcement, school staff, and educators, which makes them an invaluable asset.
SROs function effectively at schools in the following ways:
- Security presence. Their presence in uniform on campus provides a visual cue of security and authority. A School Resource Officer’s focus is on the school’s immediate needs and the relationships they can build with students.
- Relationship builders. Many at-risk youth have negative interactions with law enforcement on the street. However, in a school setting, the SRO’s role is to get to know the students and build trust so they can intervene early when behavior fits a concerning pattern.
- Mediating mentors. SROs bring a unique perspective to conversations with students who are headed down a path that can lead to criminal activity and the justice system. Knowing how to frame critical conversations with hands-on experience can help when staff need another voice of authority to chime in.
- Crisis experts. As law enforcement officers, SROs have unique training that make them effective partners to rely on during a crisis. They can physically step in to stop an active threat on campus or reassuringly walk staff through an incident.
“First and foremost is [SROs] are a member of our school community,” says Dr. Penny Schultz, Assistant Director of School Safety and Security at Chesapeake Public Schools in Virginia. “We are a team…and everything boils down to relationships and being a support for our entire school community.”
Key Ways an Imbedded SRO Focuses on Student Wellbeing
Most states have mandated schools to have a School Resource Officer or security guard, according to the Education Commission of the States. Those roles are typically required to be filled by a trained law enforcement officer, but enforcing the law isn’t their primary responsibility or typically necessary in school settings.
In large districts that manage dozens of school campuses, SROs may be responsible for multiple schools and thousands of students. An SRO at a charter school may have a single building and fewer than 500 students to watch over. Regardless of how many students they are assigned to, SROs approach their day-to-day interactions with the desire to make a difference.
As Schultz says, “You get to a point in law enforcement where you’re like, what else can we do? We’re constantly seeing the same kids recidivate and enter into the system over and over…Where can we start this process to address it before it gets to that point?” Those daily interactions SROs have with meaningful connections among children and youth are where the student’s trajectory could be changed for the better.
Building Positive Interactions in Elementary Schools
In a recent webinar about early prevention against gang recruitment, Officer Robert Sacks, Relief Supervisor at the Lynchburg Police Department, noted that young children are impressionable and looking for leaders or heroes to follow. They may be older youth or adults who may be involved in gangs or just exhibit poor behavior. SROs have a chance to change the narrative and provide children with positive role models and guidance.
Sacks says, “In some cases they’re more susceptible and more vulnerable to that environment. So, you know, we have to give them extra attention, positive attention, positive reinforcement.”
That effort to build real connection with children can be the linchpin that helps a child
- resist gang recruitment
- trust an adult when they are struggling emotionally
- alert an SRO or other adult when they see a potential threat
- experience positive interactions with a law enforcement officer
- reach out when they have witnessed or experienced violence outside of school
Investing in a student’s wellbeing in their most vulnerable years is a critical way that SROs can help keep students on a better path as they move through the school system.
Focusing on Trust Over Information Collecting
SROs are mindful of the balance between building trusted friendships and gathering important information about a student’s safety. “It’s you just being genuine with these kids and they will talk to you,” explains Sacks. “When they come to my office, I’m not going, ‘Jimmy, tell me about the gang.’ You’ll have plenty of instances [to learn key information] when you build those relationships. If they’re in danger, they’re going to tell you.”
School Resource Officers recognize that some children and youth can worry that adults are only interested in collecting information rather than caring about them. For many at-risk youth, “snitching” can put them or their families in danger.
This is where resource officers at schools have to rely on the foundation they’ve laid since they stepped into those school doors. Though they are police officers and they do need to gather intel, they can’t successfully do that if students feel that they’re simply being interrogated. Caring about a student’s wellbeing and conversing naturally with them will go a long way towards building trust.
Providing Support Throughout the School Day
Ideally, SROs should be visible among students no matter the time of day or type of activity on school grounds. This provides them with natural opportunities to interact with passing students who might need to be “seen” or even protected that day without actively walking into the SRO’s office.
Officer Sacks recalls, “At a middle school football game, this one kid would stand next to me the whole time. [His] brother had huge ties to gang activity, so we were obviously concerned about him. He tells me, ‘I’m concerned that people are here to harm me.’ It’s nothing for me to have him standing next to me that whole time, but for him [it’s trust].”
For many students, the visibility of a police car or officers in uniform can provide reassurance that someone is there that they can trust to protect them. SROs can build off that reassurance by interacting with students throughout the day in positive ways during recess, lunch, transition times, sporting events, and dances.
Why SROs Can Intervene Differently Than an Educator
Dr. Penny Schultz recounts, “I had an SRO tell me the other day that a student came and said, ‘You know, if we have snow days, where would I get food from?’ I love that that [SRO] is their trusted person.”
That SRO might be the only one who knew that child was experiencing food scarcity. With that knowledge, the SRO can document the concern in a centralized database, like StudentSafe, so other designated adults can step in to help that student’s wellbeing.
While you might also see an SRO going down a slide with young children during recess like a teacher could, School Resource Officers interact with children and youth differently than a teacher who oversees them every day. Everyone has people they will tell certain details but not share them with someone else, and School Resource Officers can experience the same thing when a child decides the SRO is their “trusted person.”
Additionally, SROs are trained differently than school counselors, psychologists, educators, and staff. They are uniquely positioned to notice risk and threat assessments and intervene. With their close ties to law enforcement and access to intel, they can help with vulnerability assessments and intervention plans when a student is showing signs of gang involvement, suicide risk, or other at-risk behaviors. SROs are an essential part of the 360-degree approach to safer schools.
“For our family and our students and our staff to have that level of comfort that I have someone here that I know, I love, I trust, and that’s here to protect me, it’s a completely different mindset shift from the day-to-day answering of calls in a community. And not that our street officers don’t build relationships—they absolutely do. It just takes it to a completely different level,” explains Schultz.
Prevention Stands a Better Chance With an Effective School Resource Officer
A 2019 Department of Justice report on averted vs. completed school attacks lists motivations like grudges, bullying, resentment, and rivalry as reasons why individuals perpetrate violence in schools. When an SRO is well tapped into the students at their school, they can use those relationships to speak with a student naturally or intentionally and intervene before a situation escalates.
Their training, along with the knowledge of Behavioral Threat Assessment (BTA) teams, can improve response times and outcomes in many cases, particularly when they have access to a full chronology of a student’s change in behavior. That means SROs should be part of the documentation process in the school’s student wellbeing system.
Additionally, SROs can strengthen violence prevention by
- building day-to-day trust so “check-ins” feel natural not punitive
- noticing shifts in behavior early by being present and attentive
- maintaining a safe space for students in any situation
- improving response times when a concern is raised
- documenting concerns consistently
When School Resource Officers are adopted into a school as an essential part of their daily operations, students can rely on a different type of adult to help them feel safe and supported as they navigate their childhood.
Recommended Resource
Suicide prevention is a critical element of student wellbeing. Learn to identify the signs and uncover the myths and misconceptions that many adults have about suicide risks.
