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WS Item 5 School Resource Officer Program March 19, 2013 1 Purpose Provide Council an overview of the SPD’s SRO program Discuss recommendation to expand the program The purpose of the item before Council this evening is to provide Council with an overview of the Southlake Police Department’s current School Resource Officer Program and to discuss the enhancement and expansion of the SRO Program. 2 Goal of SRO Program There are many goals, objectives and benefits of an SRO Program. In this slide I have highlighted three: One goal is to Enhance security on all CISD campuses. Objectives of this goal include to expeditiously identify criminal activity and to intervene as quickly as possible, providing a formidable presence that could prevent incidents from occurring, and supplying CISD administrators and teachers with a valuable resource to provide support and advice regarding a variety of topics. The second goal is to Reduce community fear regarding child safety: Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, the entire nation gasped and questioned just how safe are students during school. The facts are that school shootings are rare as compared to other threats or risks to students; however, parents, and the community in general, are less fearful for their children’s safety knowing a Police Officer is present on campus. I have heard this time and time again from Southlake residents. A third goal of the SRO Program is assisting in Reducing the likelihood of drug and alcohol use among our youth. One of the greatest benefits of having Officers in schools is that they get to interact with students in a proactive and positive manner. It has been shown that these relationships contribute to the development of anti-drug anti-alcohol views by students. Through frequent interaction, SROs are able to develop positive relationships with students and are provided the opportunity to establish a mentor/coach type of relationship with the kids. This opportunity afforded to officers allows us to carry the message directly to the students on the dangers of abusing these substances. 3 Campus Information Currently we have 3 Officers assigned to the SRO Unit. Officers are assigned to: Carroll Senior High School Carroll High School Carroll and Dawson Middle Schools Additionally, each of these officers are responsible for periodically visiting Southlake elementary schools. 4 Current SRO Program This slide identifies the locations of the High Schools and Middle Schools. 5 Recommendation History On December 14th, 2012 at approximately 9:35am, life in the United States changed. Adam Lanza forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary located in Newtown, Connecticut and proceeded to kill 20 students and 6 school staff members. Every community in the nation began to question the safety of their children while in school. Southlake was and is no different. 6 Recommendation History Immediately following this event, the City began receiving requests to place an SRO in every Southlake school. In response to the Newtown tragedy, Mayor Terrell formed a Task Force to tackle the many issues that were created as a result this horrific event. 7 Task Force Membership Members of the task force included representatives from: The City of Southlake Students and Parents Against Risks to Kids The Crime Control and Prevention District Carroll Independent School District Local Churches Private Citizens Homeland Security and Immigration Customs Enforcement Private Business 8 Recommendation History Dec 14, 2012 Newtown Tragedy Dec 2012 Mayor announces Task Force Dec 21, 2012 Initial Task Force mtg; forms subcommittee The Task Force met on December 21, 2012 and began discussions. During the first meeting a subcommittee was appointed with the goal of listing and categorizing potential risks/threats facing our children. The subcommittee members included me, Homeland Security SAC Dave Marwell, Jay Lavin of Axiom Security. I also asked representatives of CISD and one of our SROs to participate. 9 Recommendation History Dec 14, 2012 Newtown Tragedy Dec 2012 Mayor announces Task Force Dec 21, 2012 Initial Task Force mtg; forms subcommittee Jan – Feb Subcommittee meets 3 times; provides recommendations to Task Force The Subcommittee met three times during the months of January and February and provided recommendations to the Task Force on February 6th. 10 Recommendation History Dec 14, 2012 Newtown Tragedy Dec 2012 Mayor announces Task Force Dec 21, 2012 Initial Task Force mtg; forms subcommittee Jan – Feb Subcommittee meets 3 times; provides recommendations to Task Force Feb 6, 2013 Task Force requests to see different SRO staffing models During the February 6th meeting, the Task Force considered many different factors surrounding different staffing models of an enhanced SRO Program. 11 National Debate No perfect model Many municipalities struggling Further conversations and debates to occur Last month I attended a Police Executive Research Forum meeting in Washington D.C. The meeting was very well attended with every facet of the criminal justice system represented. Several Chiefs who experienced active shooter situations attended and discussed their experiences. In fact, Chief Dan Oats of Aurora Colorado discussed the movie theatre shooting that occurred in his city. I had the opportunity to speak with Chief Oats in private and I certainly benefited from the conversation. Just in case you are unfamiliar with PERF: Founded in 1976 as a nonprofit organization, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a police research organization and a provider of management services, technical assistance, and executive-level education to support law enforcement agencies. PERF helps to improve the delivery of police services through the exercise of strong national leadership; public debate of police and criminal justice issues; and research and policy development. The results of the day long summit was that more questions were asked than were answered. However, the group of criminal justice leaders agreed: There is no perfect model to prevent an active shooter situation at a school campus Each municipality's needs differ and it is up to the municipality to customize their response to reduce the opportunity for an active shooter to target a school Additional conversations and debate will need to occur and that through these conversations and debates a “best practices” approach may be developed Attending this event aided me in assisting the Task Force with the challenges it was faced with. 12 Staffing Model Considerations SRO presence at all campuses vs. a few campuses Police officers vs. private security City officers vs. CISD officers Full time officers vs. seasonal officers Combination of full-time and less than full-time At the February 6th meeting the Task Force discussion focused on: 1. Should we have an SRO presence at all campuses or just a few more campuses than we currently have. 2. Should we use Police officers or contract with a private security firm to increase presence at each campus 3. Should oversight of the SRO program be the responsibility of the City PD or should CISD have a Police Department division within its operations 4. Should these SROs be full time officers or less than full-time officers, or a combination of full-time and less than full-time 13 Recommendation History From the February 6th meeting discussion the task force asked me to explore an expanded SRO program. On March 1st I presented options to the Task Force which included using a combination of full-time and less than full-time employees to place an officer at each Southlake campus. The Task Force supported this model and made the recommendation to ask CCPD to fund this expanded program. For clarification a less than full-time employee is a peace officer who works when school is in session. This employee will, on average, work a 32 hour work week 10 months during the year. 14 Task Force Recommendation SRO in every public school Including Florence Elementary (KISD) SROs to be managed by Southlake PD Ask CCPD to fund the enhanced staffing During the March 1st meeting the Task Force recommended that: An SRO be placed in every school SROs be managed by the Southlake Police Department Request the Crime Control and Prevention District to fund the enhanced staffing The model the Task Force selected to enhance and expand the current SRO Program included the combination of full-time and less-than full-time employee to cover all Southlake schools. 15 Expanded SRO Program The Expanded SRO Program will provide the City of Southlake with full-time coverage for every CISD campus, including Florence Elementary. 16 Recommendation History In response to the Task Force’s recommendation, the issue was discussed with the Crime Control Board during their March 5th meeting. The Board unanimously approved the request to fund the program. 17 CCPD Budget Impact FY 2013 Budget Amendment Two months $190,000 Personnel cost Equipment Training FY 2014 Proposed Budget Ten months $700,000 Personnel cost Equipment In order to move forward with the Enhanced SRO Program, this summer during the budget process, we will be required to amend the 2013 crime control budget. The budget amendment would be in the amount of $190,000. This will allow us to fund the program for the final two months of this fiscal year. The monies will cover personnel costs, equipment and training. In order to fully fund the program for FY 2014, the budget impact will be $700,000 which will be included in the proposed CCPD Budget for 2014. These monies will cover personnel and equipment costs for 10 months. 18 Next Steps August 2013 FY 2013 CCPD budget amendment FY 2014 proposed CCPD budget The next steps in this process will include amending the FY 2013 CCPD Budget during this summer and the inclusion of funding for the program in the FY 2014 CCPD Budget. 19 City Council Discussion Discuss accepting the Task Force and CCPD recommendation Expanding the SRO Program Placing an officer in each public campus What is before the Council this evening is a discussion item to provide staff with your support to move forward with implementing the Task Force and CCPD recommendations to expand the SRO Program in order to provide police coverage at all CISD campuses to include Florence Elementary. This concludes my presentation. Thank you for your consideration. 20 Questions? 21