School Resource Officer Evaluation Phase Two

• NCJ Number: 221259
• Author(s): Amy C. Eisert M.S.
• Date Published: September 2005
• Length: 27 pages
• Grant Number(s): ME12087
• Sponsoring Agency: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Corporate Author: Ctr for Schools & Communities
• Sale Source: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded on January 21, 2008.

Annotation

Phase two findings are presented from an evaluation assessing the impact of the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program in Pennsylvania and identifying the critical components contributing to success of the efforts resulting in the most promising practices in SRO programs.

Abstract

The promising practices of SRO programs identified during phase two include the following: (1) law enforcement officers having daily contact with the SRO; (2) the supervisor having daily contact with the SRO; (3) the supervisor having contact as needed with school administrators; (4) the supervisor having visited the SRO on school grounds between 6 and 12 times within the past 12 months; (5) the SRO supervisor having over 25 years of experience and having supervised the SRO for a minimum of 4 years; and (6) the SRO supervisor being involved in the formulation of the memorandum of understanding between the law enforcement agency and school district. In addition to the identified components of the SRO program, a need was identified for a concrete definition of a SRO. Followup with the 24 SRO sites from phase 1 revealed that 18 of those sites continued with their SRO program even after the discontinuation of State funds. The Center for Schools and Communities received funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) to assess the value of the SRO Program and identify the critical components that led to success of the program. The evaluation was conducted with the intended goal of developing a best practice manual for SRO programs within the State of Pennsylvania. Phase 2 consisted of surveys of the original 24 law enforcement agencies in phase 1 of the evaluation and the SRO supervisor and fellow law enforcement officers, as well as public school principals of the middle and high schools. A followup was then conducted of all 24 original SRO programs to identify the current status of the programs. All data were compiled into SPSS databases and related material was cross-referenced with phase one to determine the most promising practices in SRO programs. Appendixes A-C