February 2016

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

 Fact Sheet www.cops.usdoj.gov

October 2016

2016 COPS Hiring Program School 

Resource Officer Mandatory Training 

Overview

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

(COPS Office) is committed to ensuring student success 

in supportive, safe environments by providing a variety 

of resources, including award funding, to deploy School 

Resource Officers (SRO). The fiscal year (FY) 2016 COPS 

Hiring Program (CHP) includes awards for agencies to 

deploy SROs to school districts across the country. 

To ensure COPS Office–funded SROs have the resources 

and knowledge necessary for their position, the COPS 

Office enacted a new FY 2016 CHP training requirement. 

All SRO officers funded by FY 2016 CHP awards are 

required to attend the Basic School Resource Officer 

Course conducted by the National Association of School 

Resource Officers (NASRO) as part of their training. To 

support this requirement, the COPS Office will pay the 

training fee directly to NASRO and pay allowable travel 

costs (transportation, hotel, and per diem) up to $1,000 per 

COPS Office-funded SRO. 

Award Condition

All COPS-funded SRO(s) are required to complete 

a National Association of School Resource Officers 

(NASRO) basic training course no later than nine months 

after the date shown on the award congratulatory letter. 

If a COPS-funded SRO leaves the recipient agency after 

completing the NASRO training, the recipient agrees 

to pay for the new SRO, who is assigned to backfill this 

position, to attend a NASRO basic training course. This 

new SRO must complete the training no later than nine 

months after being placed in the schools.

How to Receive Funding

All agencies funding SROs through a FY 2016 CHP 

award will receive information about the SRO training 

requirement in their award terms and conditions, as well as 

in the CHP Award Owner’s Manual (AOM). The COPS 

Office requires that law enforcement agencies and schools 

first develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to 

clearly document the roles, responsibilities, and expectations 

of the individuals and partners involved, including SROs, 

school officials, law enforcement, education departments, 

students, and parents. The MOU must be submitted within 

90 days of the date shown on the award congratulatory 

letter. The CHP MOU Fact Sheet describing the contents 

of this MOU can be found on the COPS Office website 

at http://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2016AwardDocs/chp/2016_

CHP_MOU_FactSheet_v4.pdf.

After an SRO is selected for the COPS Office–funded 

position, the agency should register for training on the 

NASRO website (https://nasro.org/training/) and note 

in the comments section that the position is funded by 

an FY 2016 CHP award. NASRO will then notify the 

COPS Office for payment. After the course is successfully 

completed, the officer or agency can submit itemized 

expenses to NASRO for reimbursement—up to $1,000 

for each SRO position. All expenses must be documented 

in writing and comply with agency travel policy or 

federal travel regulations as described in the Federal 

Travel Regulation web page, http://www.gsa.gov/portal/

content/104790. A travel checklist will be provided to 

participants to assist with documentation. Agencies with 

travel policies that differ from federal travel regulations 

must submit a copy of the alternative travel policy in 

writing. After completing the training, the SRO or agency 
2

2016 COPS Hiring Program School Resource Officer Mandatory Training

representative should email a copy of the NASRO 

Basic School Resource Officer Course certificate to 

COPS-SRO@usdoj.gov.

If the COPS Office–funded SRO previously completed 

the NASRO Basic School Resource Officer Course within 

the last 12 months, the recipient should contact the 

COPS Office Response Center by phone at 800-421-6770 

or by email at AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov and provide the 

location and date of the training, so that the COPS Office 

can confirm with NASRO and determine if the training 

requirement has been satisfied.

About NASRO

NASRO is an organization for school-based law 

enforcement officers, school administrators, and school 

security and safety professionals working as partners to 

protect students, school faculty and staff, and the schools 

they attend. NASRO is a not-for-profit organization 

founded in 1991 that assists communities and school 

districts to develop effective programs that further highfunctioning community partnerships and ultimately 

result in safer schools. NASRO’s training focuses on the 

special nature of school campuses, student needs and 

characteristics, and the educational and custodial interests 

of school personnel. 

Basic School Resource Officer Course

This is a 40-hour block of instruction designed for school 

administrators and any law enforcement officer with 

two years or less experience working in an educational 

environment. The course emphasizes three main areas of 

instruction: 

1. Functioning as a police officer in the school setting

2. Working as a resource and problem solver

3. Developing teaching skills

Contact the COPS Office

For more information about CHP, please call the COPS 

Office Response Center at 800-421-6770, or visit the 

COPS Office website at www.cops.usdoj.gov.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Supporting safe schools

The COPS Office is committed to supporting safe schools—

places where students can learn and teachers can educate—by 

providing a variety of resources, including award funds, to help 

deploy SROs. http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/supportingsafeschools

National Association of School Resource Officers

The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) 

is dedicated to making schools and children safer by providing 

the highest quality training to school-based law enforcement 

officers. https://nasro.org/

School Discipline Consensus Report

The School Discipline Consensus Report is a comprehensive 

set of consensus-based and field-driven recommendations 

for improving learning conditions for all students and educators, better supporting students with behavioral needs, 

improving police-schools partnerships, and keeping students 

out of the juvenile justice system for minor offenses. 

https://csgjusticecenter.org/youth/school-disciplineconsensus-report/

Youth.gov

Youth.gov provides information to create, maintain, and 

strengthen effective youth programs. Developed by 

representatives from 19 federal agencies, these programs 

and services focus on youth by promoting positive, 

healthy outcomes for children, teens, and young adults. 

http://youth.gov/

Defending Childhood Initiative

The Defending Childhood Initiative helps prevent, address, 

reduce, and more fully understand childhood exposure to 

violence. They provide resources to stop child abuse and 

trauma in the United States and give information on the eight 

Defending Childhood Initiative communities across the country. 

http://www.defendingchildhood.org/

School Safety CD-ROM

The School Safety CD-ROM provides more than 110 documents 

and links related to school violence, gangs, bullying, and 

property crime as a resource to local policymakers, law 

enforcement, school administrators, parents, and students. 

Bullying, stalking, and other interpersonal crimes affect 

our nation’s children at an alarming rate. This CD-ROM 

provides school safety information addressing bullying and 

interpersonal violence, youth violence prevention, alcohol and 

substance abuse, community partnerships, property crime and 

nuisance violations, school resource officers, and emergency 

preparedness and management. http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.

php?page=detail&id=COPS-CD010