NCJ Number
186914
Date Published
June 2000
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This report presents findings from a 1999 survey that solicited data and information on school resource officer (SRO) programs in Virginia.
Abstract
The school shootings of 1998 and early 1999 made school violence a primary public concern and led Virginia's Governor Jim Gilmore and the Virginia General Assembly to provide more grant money for the hiring of SROs. Consequently, between July 1, 1998, and July 1, 1999, the number of SRO grants administered by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) increased from 24 to 111, and the number of SRO positions funded by these grants increased from 32 to 122. Most of these positions helped establish new SRO programs or expand programs less than 3 years old. The value of the State and Federal money underwriting these grants increased from $730,000 to $2,315,000. The 1999 DCJS survey contacted by phone all Virginia police departments and sheriff's offices with primary responsibility for patrol, crime prevention, and community policing within their jurisdictions. If a department or office sponsored a SRO program, surveyors asked to speak to the person most knowledgeable about the program. This "agency contact" person was asked for the law enforcement agency's name, agency telephone number, SRO supervisor's name and telephone number, number of years the SRO program has operated, and the number of agency SRO positions. Data solicited for SROs included the SROs rank and name; years/months as an SRO officer; years/months in law enforcement; any formal SRO training; and current school assignments. The survey found that as of March 1, 2000, there were 129 local SRO programs in Virginia. The survey findings are presented in 11 tables, and maps show the geographic location of SRO programs, as well as the location and size of SRO programs.