class. She said besides being edu- cators and guest speakers, SROs are expected to be available for students as informal counselors. Candidates are taught how to build a rapport with various members of the total school community, from administration to parents. Tey are also taught what they can and cannot do
in the area of discipline. Te training features a 40-hour basic course, a 24-hour advanced course, management courses and an active shooter course. Williamson said the process begins when the school board and the police department prop- erly select officers to undergo the NASRO training.
“When they are properly select-
ed, they must be properly trained,” Williamson said. “Te school setting is a very unique environment, and you have to be trained to be effective in that environment.” Quinn has been an SRO for 13 of
his 19 years in law enforcement, and for the past 11 years he has worked with students at Hamilton High School. Becaue SROs bring a unique perspective to the classroom, he stressed the importance of establish-
ing a rapport with the students. “Just being able to get into a class-
room where they can ask questions and you can get deep into details of what you want to explain to them, is important,” he said. “Tings such as drug prevention, drunk driving and constitutional law — these are things police officers deal with every day. It’s not just having a gun; it’s the whole package.”
THE FINAL FRONTIER
NASRO officials agreed that one of the final steps in making students safer is to establish a more formal relationship with student transport- ers. In a perfect world, SROs would be involved in emergency response planning for transportation as well as for school campuses. Quinn said communication must
improve between the SROs and transportation. “Bus drivers need to feel comfort- able about opening up and reporting any suspicious activity to us,” Quinn said. “Maybe there are some training topics bus drivers want to know about, especially things like gangs and drugs. A lot of times we forget about the bus drivers, but bus drivers see those kids as much as teachers do.”
46 School Transportation News January 2014
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