Welcome to the School Resource Officers (SRO) landing page. There are many National and State Resources available to you containing information on Bullying, School Safety and Mental Wellness with a specific focus on SRO. It is our hope the information provided in this database will provide additional guidance and information. Much of the information available on the School Personnel page is also relevant to School Resource Officers.
The Illinois School and Campus Safety Resource Center has developed a set of resources specific to SRO and it is believed that this is a great place to start any search for information. There are specific resource pages for Bullying K-12, Behavioral Threat Assessment, and School Violence. This center is a partnership between the Illinois Terrorism Task Force and Western Illinois University, it is administered by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute at Western Illinois University.
National Associations:
National Association of School Resource Officers
Federal Commission on School Safety
National School Safety Center
National Education Association, School Safety
Community Operated Policing Services
Trainings:
Youth Mental Health First Aid
Nonviolent Crisis Intervention
Illinois Specific Resources:
Illinois School and Campus Safety Resource Center
Illinois State Board of Education, Educational Safety and Security Center
School Safety
In a recently released whitepaper on School Safety and Mental Health (pdf) the focus is on a comprehensive approach to school safety that focuses on creating a climate and culture within the school environment that promotes physical and psychological safety. The Safe Schools Health Students Federal Initiative in 2013 released a resource specific to School Resource Officers (pdf), and the role they play in the development of the school climate and culture.
When considering the types of environments where students thrive, creating opportunities for building positive supportive relationships is important. The role that a SRO can play in improving community relationships while also providing the first line of defense in a crisis situation is highlighted in this article. PoliceOne provides three steps to SRO success in school.
During the last legislative session, Illinois Public Act 101-0455 amended Section 25 The School Safety Drill Act by changing section 25 and adding Section 45. Please refer to the linked Public Act for additional information. This change mandates "school boards to review each school building emergency and crisis response plans, protocols, and procedures, including procedures regarding the school district's threat assessment team." The SRO along with local police play an important role in both emergency/crisis response plans, but also in the threat assessment process. Related resources include: Illinois School and Campus Safety Resource Center- Behavioral Threat Assessment page, Maryland's Model Policy for Behavior Threat Assessments (pdf), Threat Assessment in Virginia Public Schools: Model Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines (pdf).
The inclusion of and SRO in the school environment creates an opportunity to consider when and how information about students is shared. There is a resource specific to School Resource officers titled: School Resource Officers and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (pdf)which might be helpful. There are both federal and state privacy acts that need to be considered. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal regulation, while the Illinois Student Records Act is specific to Illinois. When sharing information related to Mental Health there are additional laws that might need to be considered. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) is a federal law that in its briefest description protects health care information. In Illinois the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act among other items limits the ability to disclose mental health care and developmental disability service records without consent.
