NCJ Number
215679
Date Published
December 2001
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This is a report on the second annual (fiscal year 1999-2000) evaluation of school resource officer (SRO) programs in Virginia funded by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).
Abstract
The evaluation found that the overwhelming majority of students and staff felt safe at school. SROs dealt with a wide range of criminal offenses in their work, 25 percent of which involved intentional physical violence. SROs performed effectively as law enforcers, instructors of law-related educational classes, crime prevention specialists, and community liaisons. There is substantial anecdotal evidence that SROs are reducing violence in schools. Nearly all students and school staff supported the presence of SROs in schools, and substantial majorities of students and staff rated SROs as effective in reducing fear, fighting, and incidents of bullying. The findings of this second annual evaluation of the SRO program in Virginia schools confirm the findings of the first-year's evaluation. These evaluation findings are based on data submitted by 78 local SRO programs, all of which were awarded grants of Federal or State monies administered by DCJS. The data reflect SRO activities from July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000. During this period, 107 DCJS-administered grants funded 117 SRO positions. The evaluation data were from 360 SRO Quarterly Activity Reports, 8,889 School Incident Reports, 87 Lessons From the Field Reports, 4,813 completed staff surveys on school safety, and 36,625 completed students surveys on school safety. Extensive tables and figures