Campus Law Enforcement Officer Role in Discipline, Enforcement, Community Education, and Mentoring Instructor

Campus Law Enforcement Officer Role in Discipline, Enforcement, Community Education, and Mentoring

Instructor

Terminal Objective

Upon completion of this module, the participant will be able to describe an Campus Law Enforcement Officer’s various roles in discipline, enforcement, community education, and mentoring according to the NASRO/TASRO Triad approach.

Enabling Objectives

Present a brief history of the SRO Program Identify the TRIAD Concept (NASRO 1991) Describe the TASRO TRIAD approach, its

definition, and goals Describe and discuss the three different

roles of an SRO Describe the SROs role in school discipline Explain the importance of an SRO

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Background

A national study of 322 law enforcement agencies found that many SROs engage in activities for which they have not been trained, especially teaching and mentoring.

The 2002 NASRO School Resource Officer Survey also found that “between 17% and 34% have not received specialized training in topics such as adolescent child behavior, counseling skills, . . . and related issues.”

TRIAD Concept (NASRO 1991)

Educator Counselor Law Enforcement Officer

TRIAD Approach - TASRO

Law Enforcement Officer

Law Related Presenter Informal Counselor

SRO Defined (TASRO)

Definition The SRO concept is the placement of an

experienced law enforcement professional in the High Schools, Middle Schools and Elementary Schools with the following goals.

SRO Goals - TASRO Creating and maintaining safe, secure and

orderly learning environments for students, teachers and staff.

Establish a trusting channel of communication with the students, parents, and teachers.

Serve as a positive role model to instill in student's good moral standards, good judgment and discretion, respect for other students, and a sincere concern for the school community.

SRO Goals –TASRO (cont.)

Promote citizen awareness of the law to enable students to become better informed and effective citizens, while empowering students with the knowledge of law enforcement efforts and obligations regarding enforcement as well as consequences for violations of the law.

Serve as a confidential source of counseling for students and parents concerning problems they face as well as providing information on community resources available to them.

SRO Roles

Law Enforcement Officer The primary purpose is to "keep the peace"

Informal Counselor Provides resource guidance to students, parents,

teachers, staff, and act as a link to support services both inside and outside the school

Law Related Presenter Shares special law enforcement expertise by

presentations in the classroom to promote a better understanding of our laws

Furthermore, the SRO also serves as a positive role model for the students on

campus during school hours and off campus at extracurricular activities

Training SROs

Training falls into two categories: Pre-service In-service

Training SROs

Both are essential for a number of reasons. Few SROs have experience teaching in the

classroom or practicing counseling and mentoring youth

SROs need training in child psychology and behavior

Campus Law Enforcement Officer: Role

First and foremost, law enforcement officer Uniformed or plainclothes armed officer Marked vehicle The officer for the school community Works with other law enforcement officers

and agencies Liaison between the school and police

community


Programs can help ensure their survival if SROs go out of their way

to make themselves useful to school administrators and teachers.


Most familiarity between SROs and students is harmless, such as students using informal names to refer to the officers

However, in a few sites SROs and some students hug each other, opening the possibility for students to misconstrue the officers’ intentions.

Programs have taken several steps to help SROs balance being supportive yet remain an authority figure. Establish specific guidelines for appropriate and

inappropriate behavior. Arrange to provide formal training for SROs on the topic. Instruct SROs to act defensively


Confusion of SRO Role School Administrators did not understand

or accept the SRO’s role in their schools. The most common expression of this

resistance was a refusal or delay in the reporting of incidents.

SRO seen as enforcer only


There are also numerous gray areas that administrators and SROs need to iron out Example: Is shoving between two students to

be treated by the SRO as a criminal matter (Assault) or by the assistant principal as a violation of the school discipline code?

Programs vary considerably in the latitude they allow SROs to enforce discipline.


Even with a written list of roles and responsibilities, there can be problems because no one can anticipate every possible area of disagreement

Some activities are gray areas that could legitimately be more than one person’s responsibility.

SROs may also feel that they need to step in because victims of bullying sometimes end up taking revenge on the students who taunt them—or on innocent parties in the school


Teachers need to be trained on the role of the SRO

The benefits of teacher training can be immediate and significant

In addition to needing training in classroom management, SROs also need to learn how to develop lesson plans.

Informal Counselor

Serve as reality counselors (students share problem with officers) Not a replacement for guidance counselors Some jurisdictions prefer the term "advisor"

Informal counseling of students and parents based on the expertise of a law enforcement officer

Work closely with the school’s counseling staff Provide information on community services

and the law to students, parents, and staff

Campus Law Enforcement Officer: Counseling

Because SROs are trained to be problem solvers, they naturally fall into the practice of giving advice.

SRO’s and school administrators agree that many students often lie less to SROs

Campus Law Enforcement Officer: Counseling

There is a serious risk of giving poor advice in the counseling role,

Some administrators and guidance counselors expressed concern about SROs getting involved in students’ personal problems.

However, the vast majority said they trusted the SROs’ judgment to not overstep their bounds.

Campus Law Enforcement Officer: Mentoring

Few people are "natural born" mentors

Without training, few officers realizein advance the central role mentoring plays in being an SRO until later.


Some School Administrators Help SROs Maintain their Mentoring Role by the use of a variation of the “good cop, bad cop” routine

Some administrators go even further in helping to shield the SROs from having to be too tough on students.

This “division of labor” helps SROs maintain their positive rapport with students that they feel is necessary in order for the officers to remain effective mentors.


In smaller communities, SROs who go back to being beat officers during the summer can keep in touch with some of their troublesome students and continue to mentor them.

Campus Law Enforcement Officer: Enforcement

SROs and school administrators recognize the difficulty SROs experience in trying to maintain authority as enforcers of the law along with maintaining a helping relationship with students as teachers and mentors.

SROs need to be “friendly” but not “friends.” SROs have reported feeling genuinely

“conflicted” when taking punitive action against students.


There are complex issues associated with enforcing the law in a school that many SROs are not initially ready to handle

SROs may need help to “unlearn” some of the techniques they learned to use on patrol duty that are not appropriate in dealing with students

SROs need guidance in how to collaborate with local principals and assistant principals from whom they will receive day-to-day instructions, requests, and complaints.

SROs need to learn how to work effectively with parents.


Conflicts arise between SROs and school administrators wanted to use SROs primarily for security purposes

SRO’s are then not allowed or encouraged to act as teachers and mentors


The challenge of balancing the law enforcement role with the mentor role is exacerbated by the lack of contact many SROs have with other SROs and with patrol officers.


Historically, police have always had to balance how much discretion to exercise in any given encounter with the public, but officers usually look to peers for advise, help and assistance

But, because SROs are largely isolated from their peers, they are left on their own when it comes to determining how to use their discretion.


In developing the written description of SRO roles and responsibilities, keep in mind: Narrow the considerable leeway in what it means for

SROs to engage in “law enforcement.” Make clear whether and how SROs will also be

responsible for enforcing discipline. Be specific about the SROs’ teaching and mentoring

responsibilities. Specify which responsibilities apply to all SROs in all

schools (e.g., patrolling the cafeteria at lunch) and which responsibilities are negotiable between individual SROs and their local school administrators (e.g., standing in the corridors between classes).

SRO and Discipline

Officers are in schools to be "proactive" and to compliment the school environment

School discipline and school policy should continue just as it always has

Students have the opportunity to see law enforcement from a different perspective

Campus Law Enforcement Officer: Discipline

Disciplining high school students has become increasingly difficult.

School administrators hire assistant principals and deans of students to address daily discipline needs.

According to one poll of the public's attitudes toward public schools, violence, gangs, and a lack of discipline are schools' biggest problems.


Research on school discipline, classroom management, and behavior management collectively suggest that explicit instruction on school rules, as well as ongoing communication about how the school enforces its rules, can reduce problem behavior at school.


School discipline involves dealing with students who break school rules as opposed to handling students who violate state statutes and local ordinances

This can be a source of friction between SROs and school administrators in many schools.

How the SRO handles discipline can also hamper establishing rapport with students and teachers.


Some SROs in some schools consistently enforce discipline—or enforce it on a case-by-case basis on their own initiative or at an administrator’s request.

An SRO in a large school learned what to do by trial and error—“playing it by ear,” as he put it.

The SRO can write discipline reports on students and turn them into the assistant principal


Finally, there is a separate but related issue not of whether SROs do discipline or of how often they do discipline but whether they want to handle punitively through the criminal justice system school rule violations that are also minor offenses.

In particular, an individual SRO’s previous orientation as a law enforcement officer may impel the officer to handle minor infractions either informally or by referral to school administrators, or by making arrests and handing out citations.


Like their other roles, the SROs’ role in enforcing discipline can change over time.

The presence of a SRO can free teachers who are concerned about serious discipline problems from worrying about and taking the time to handle students who might become aggressive


SROs should be involved with both in-school and out-of-school suspension

they should work with school administrators to create alternatives to out-of-school suspensions

Students are less likely to get in trouble if they understand and appreciate the consequences of their behavior beforehand.

Law-Related Presenter

Educate students and faculty regarding law related topics

A member of the faculty and administration Role of a guest

speaker

Campus Law Enforcement Officer: Education

Teachers and SROs can teach collaborative lessons on topics from the Bill of Rights to the importance of physical fitness

Together, they can coach athletic teams and head school clubs as well.


SRO’s have helped devise crisis plans to implement during various types of emergency situations

SRO’s have proven immensely helpful and resourceful during emergencies


Implementing crime prevention techniques and programs in the SRO program is valuable

Conducting school safety surveys and giving crime prevention presentations on drugs, alcohol and distracted driving are valuable


Working with Parents Vocal parents can damage a program Conversely, strong support from parents

can provide important benefits.

SARA model

SRO’s should be part of a collaborative problem solving

The use of the SARA model (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment) is helpful

However, SROs rarely involved other individuals and groups outside the schools in implementing a permanent solution to get at root cause of chronic problems such as bullying or vandalism.

Sources

Bond, B. (2001). Principals and SROs: Defining roles. Principal Leadership, 1(8), 52-55.

Devine, J. (1996). Maximum security: The culture of violence in inner city schools. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

Kennedy, M. (2001). Security: Teachers with a badge. American School & University, 73(6), 36-38.

Mulqueen, C. (1999). School resource officers: More than security guards. American School & University, 71(11), ss17.

www.nasro.org National Association of School Resource Officers. (2006). Basic school resource

officer course manual. 6th edition, 1. www.tasro.org Price, P. (2009). When is a police officer an officer of the law?: The status of police

officers in schools. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 99, 2, 541. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, H.R.3711, 110th Cong.

(2005) "National School Safety and Security Services." School Resource Officers: 2004

National SRO Survey Results. Web. 08 May 2012. <http://www.schoolsecurity.org/resources/school-resource-officers.html>.

Sources

Benigni, Mark D. "The Need for School Resource Officers." CBS Interactive. CBS Interactive Business Network, 01 May 2004. Web. 03 May 2012. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_5_73/ai_n7068944/ .

Finn, Peter, and Et Al. "A Guide to Developing,Maintaining, and Succeeding With Your School ResourceOfficer Program."Http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/sroguidelines.pdf. U.S. Department of Justice. Web. <http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/sroguidelines.pdf>

Finn, Peter, and Et Al. "Comparison of Program Activities and Lessons Learned among 19 School Resource Officer (SRO) Programs." U.S. Department of Justice, Mar. 2005. Web. http://www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv/pdf_files/SRO_Natl_Survey.pdf

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_5_73/ai_n7068944/



http://www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv/pdf_files/SRO_Natl_Survey.pdf



Picture Sources

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-2186-what_i_learned_in_police_firearms_training_class.html

http://www.opkansas.org/Resident-Resources/School-Resource-Officers

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/archives/50039/

Documents

Campus Law Enforcement Officer Role in Discipline, Enforcement, Community Education, and Mentoring Instructor