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Editorial: Right time to start SRO
Op-Ed · August 18, 2016
Our initial reaction to placing a police officer in West Branch Community Schools’ buildings was, like many others, negative.
It seemed to signal an unwarranted fear in Small Town America.
Yet considering the details presented for this proposal, we find ourselves warming to the idea.
In many headline-grabbing cases, we hear later of the addition of a police presence in schools. For inner-city schools, it may be an internal body of crime growing in frequency and violence. For others, especially recently, it followed a mass shooting.
But there have been no such headlines in West Branch, so, naturally, the idea brought confusion and questions.
Here are some of the key factors to consider about the Student Resource Officer’s time and responsibilities:
• The officer identified to serve is Ofc. Cathy Steen, a mother of two who also is on her 10th year teaching criminal justice courses for Kirkwood Community College. Steen carries herself with the self-assuredness of an athlete and speaks with the easygoing confidence one would expect of an experienced mother and teacher. We don’t want an officer in whom children – especially teens – can sense fear and insecurity; they will fail to earn respect. Steen appears ready to handle such scrutiny.
• The SRO will spend up to 12 hours a week – combined – in the three school buildings. That could mean four hours per week in each of the three buildings, but the administration wants to focus on Hoover Elementary and West Branch Middle School. With seven hours in a school day and three schools, full-time officer presence would require 105 hours a week, so the SRO is only covering a bit more than 10 percent of the school week with pupils.
• The reason for more time with younger pupils is because the SRO wants to build relationships with the children and present a friendly, welcoming and helpful face for the West Branch Police Department. The idea is that children will grow up with a positive impression of their local police. On the flip side, if their first interaction with police follows a 911 call, the odds of casual interaction drop considerably.
• The officer will carry a gun and, though informally dressed, will still wear clothing that readily identifies them as a police officer. She will also wear a body camera, which will only be used when a situation arises to warrant it. Some parents are, reasonably, concerned about a student disarming the officer and turning the gun on others. Yet in the culture of West Branch schools, we think the chance of someone bringing themselves to such action is relatively small. Instead, our thoughts turn to threats from the outside, and we find ourselves hoping the school will post signs on exterior doors indicating that an armed officer walks these halls.
• The SRO will continue traditional educational efforts, from subjects like avoiding illicit drugs to practicing bicycle safety to fighting cyberbullying. This information is self-empowering to pupils and will arguably do more long-term good than most of the above points.
The City Council and Board of Education agreed to split the cost of the SRO, which looks like it will run about $10,000 under the start-up contract. The city’s budget is stable right now, but the school district has had to cut about $700,000 from its budget in the past two years, which has some questioning the timing of this addition.
Yet the school district’s cuts, from what the superintendent tells us, are still avoiding direct impacts on most pupils.
So between the circumstances and the people involved, right now it appears we have the right situation to begin the School Resource Officer program.
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