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**U.S. Department of Justice**        Office of Community Oriented Policing Services            145 N Street, N.E.       Washington, DC 20530      www.cops.usdoj.gov×         Menu         - Home
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**School Resource Officers (SRO)and Hall County Student Safety**
  May 2018 | Volume 11 | Issue 5

*Gerald Couch is  sheriff of Hall County, Georgia, located north of Atlanta. The county  implemented its SRO program in 1999.*

 I consider the job of school resource officer (SRO) to be one  of the most important jobs in the entire Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO).  SROs interact with students on a daily basis in a non-confrontational setting;  that helps to bridge gaps in how teens view police and also helps police view  students in a more positive light. Our department assigns an SRO to each of our  middle schools and high schools. We also have additional SROs who work with  students at the elementary schools and teach all fifth graders in the county.

Throughout the county, we dedicate 18 deputies to the school  services unit in support of our six middle schools, six high schools, and 19  elementary schools. Each school is like a small community, and having officers  there on a daily basis builds relationships—students trust the officers and  report issues to SROs so the officers can respond effectively.

SROs are involved in criminal investigations as necessary,  but officers are not to be involved in disciplinary issues. School resource  officers are assigned in schools for issues that relate to law enforcement and  to build relationships with students; school discipline issues are the  responsibility of teachers and other school administrators.

SROs are trained to fulfill three primary roles: law  enforcement, counselors, and educators. The main purpose of SROs is to keep the  peace in their schools so students can learn in a safe environment. Second, officers  act as law-related counselors who provide guidance and information to students,  their families, and school staff while acting as links to support services both  inside and outside the school environment. Finally, officers are law-related  educators who provide the schools with an additional resource by sharing their  expertise in the classroom.

One way our officers share their expertise is by conducting the  ADVANCE program (Avoiding Drugs, Violence, and Negative Choices Early). Every  fifth grade student in the county completes the ADVANCE program to learn strategies  on development of social competence, conflict resolution, and positive  alternatives to drugs, violence, and gangs. The program also covers social  media, water safety, and our ‘healthy heroes,’ who teach good eating and  fitness habits. At the graduation ceremonies, I shake each student’s hand, so I  have met every fifth grader in Hall County. The program has operated for over a  decade and is led by Lt. Gene Joy, who trained some of the parents of our  current fifth grade students. We are proud that our program is used as a model  for the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association C.H.A.M.P.S. education program and has  been adopted by other agencies.

Our department also offers the Teen Driver program—a  week-long driver safety course that teaches proper safety skills and defensive  driving. The program started in 2001 under the National Safety Council  Defensive Driving guidelines, and we now partner with the state of Georgia to  teach driver safety as part of license certification for the state. The driving  program is taught about six times over the summer by SROs, who also cover one  month of summer school. So the deputies work with students and families  throughout the year in a variety of ways.

As I said, SROs are a very important job in HCSO and they  are selected with care. I look for senior officers with excellent communication  skills. SROs are more than a person wearing a badge—the students learn that the  person behind the badge is a mom or dad that lives and works in the community.  In addition to being the SRO, they are also a caring person that is engaged  with the residents, often as a tee-ball or sports coach.

My office collaborates with school principals and the school  board during the selection process, and a board interviews candidates for each  school specifically. We also have a signed memorandum of understanding with  schools to define the roles and responsibilities of the SROs in the schools. Deputies  report to a sergeant and captain over the unit, and ultimately to me as the sheriff.  But principals have input on the annual evaluation and we make sure that my  office works with the schools to collaborate on school safety. Once selected, all  the SROs in our county get training through the state of Georgia, then complete  the NASRO [National Association of School Resource Officers] basic and advanced  training courses. The NASRO training also gives deputies an opportunity to talk  with other SROs and officers from different agencies.

SROs work on criminal activity at school, and theft is the  largest problem that occurs. But during the last year we have added a drug dog,  as a resource to help with preventative measures. The officers also do a lot of  counseling and provide help to students, particularly as liaisons with services  in the community. And SROs also collaborate with juvenile courts to support  students.

Shortly after taking office as sheriff in 2013, I developed  a new program—an innovation to address manpower demands. Previously, when  citizens would come to report crimes, the records office would need to call in  a patrol officer, who was pulled from their beat for up to two hours. We  created community resource officers (CRO) based on the same concept as SROs. We  now have CROs stationed at the north and south end of the county, as well as  the center of the county, to address the special needs that patrol may not be  able to address. In addition to taking crime reports, the officers interact  with community members on a regular basis at community events, cookouts, and  parades. The CROs also check on elderly citizens and respond to special  problems. These officers have built trust, and residents want to talk with  officers they know—the CROs they have seen at local events and stationed in  their local community. The CRO position has grown over time since its inception,  and now these deputies also handle social media and other forms of outreach.

When I started my career in 1981, the HCSO had 75 officers  that all worked and lived in the same place. Today, we have 425 officers and  about half live outside the neighborhood where they serve. Community policing  principles such as the school resource officer unit and CROs have helped to  integrate police in the community. We seek community input to address issues  and problems and continually work to improve collaboration and trust between  our residents and law enforcement.

Sheriff Gerald Couch          Hall County Sheriff Department

***Supporting statement from  Hall County Schools Superintendent Will Schofield***

The Hall County School  District has school resource officers in each middle and high school, and the  sheriff’s department keeps patrol officers in elementary zones throughout the  day. Officers are regularly in and out of all of our schools, and our students  see them as a comforting part of the “team”. The team is 100 percent NASRO-trained  and utilizes the triad theory of law enforcement; officers act as guest speakers  and informal counselors for our students. We work together to hire and evaluate  all of these officers.

As times continue to  change, our program evolves. We have added multiple buildings over the past six  decades, and the safety considerations of today are very different from 1960.  Not only have buildings evolved, the type of challenges has as well. Our  officers work to help our teachers and administrators stay abreast of the  latest social media challenges and substance abuse issues within the community.  Additionally, they have been invaluable in teaching and practicing lockdown  procedures and active shooter awareness and drills. In short, our SROs’ greatest  resource remains the incredible relationships they build with our students,  staff, and community members. As a 19-year school superintendent, I am  extremely thankful for the incredible relationship we have with the Hall County  Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Couch and his team are true partners that do not  care who gets the credit; they do all they can to keep our schools safe. 

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The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

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