This Idaho mayor adds school resource officers to address rising cases of school violence
Meridian Mayor Robert Simison promised to do what he could to protect students at school in the wake of the shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
About six months later, Simison followed through. The Meridian Police Department deployed six new school resource officers to 13 elementary schools, the first time SROs have been deployed to elementary schools in the Treasure Valley, said Kelsey Winnett, spokesperson for the Meridian Police Department.
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“As a parent, the thought of this is unimaginable,” Simison said in his State of the City Address in June. “We send our children to school every day to learn and grow, but more and more they are being put in a position to be aware of the violence that can exist.”
The additional officers brought West Ada up to 19 school resource officers in their 30 schools in Meridian, the Police Department said.
The officers work closely with administration and the students, the department said in a news release. Their duties include: filing investigative and other required reports or documents, patrolling, providing security at specified sporting events, maintaining building security, controlling traffic, and enforcing traffic laws.
“When necessary, they also investigate and work to prevent crimes against persons or property, identifying and arresting violators of state and local laws,” the release said.
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Four of the officers started at the beginning of the 2022 school year and two started this month, after winter break, Winnett said.
The Meridian City Council approved a $931,321 budget addition in August for the officers.
The officers are required to follow the National Association of School Resource Officers model for training and take a 40-hour basiccourse in their first year on the job and a 24-hour course in their second year. The officers are required to have completed active shooter response training, Winnett said.
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The officers also participate in summer training that brings together SROs from other jurisdictions to practice active-shooter response, de-escalation, juvenile crisis intervention, legal updates pertaining to juveniles, and juvenile investigation, Winnett said.
This story was originally published January 27, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
