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  • Our SRO Partners and Program

    The School Resource Officer (SRO) program is a partnership between Birdville ISD and local police departments. Birdville ISD has schools in five different cities and works closely with each of the cities police departments.  Birdville has open communication with local law enforcement through formal and informal channels. The Birdville Student Services team meets monthly with both local department sergeants and school resource officers.

    School-Based Law Enforcement as defined by the Texas School Safety Center:

    "At the most basic level, a school-based police officer, commonly known as a school resource officer (SRO), is a sworn police officer who is employed in a school, or a group of schools, with the goal of promoting a safe learning environment. Beyond that definition, the particular responsibilities of SROs vary from campus to campus and are subject to a host of influences.1 Tasks performed by SROs may include providing security at school events, patrolling school grounds, assisting with traffic flow during drop-off and pickup times, and teaching, in addition to many others.2 It is critical to remember that the role of a school-based law enforcement officer is not universally defined and can vary greatly depending on the needs and expectations of the school.1 Alongside this variation in expectations exists a range of factors that determine an officer’s effectiveness in helping build a safe learning space, factors that are still being explored through research about student outcomes.3,4,5

    References

    1McKenna, J. M., Martinez-Prather, K., & Bowman, S. W. (2016). The roles of school-based law enforcement officers and how these roles are established: A qualitative study. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 27, 420–443.

    2Zhang, G., & Spence, D. H. (2018). An evaluation of the Prevention Resource Officer Program in West Virginia middle and highs schools. Retrieved from 

    3Na, C., & Gottfredson, D. C. (2013). Police officers in schools: Effects on school crime and the processing of offending behaviors. Justice Quarterly, 30, 619–650.

    4Fisher, B. W., & Hennessey, E. A. (2016). School Resource Officers and exclusionary discipline in U.S. high schools: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Adolescent Research Review, 1, 217–233.

    5Theriot, M. T. (2016). The impact of school resource officer interactions on students’ feelings about school and school police. Crime & Delinquency, 62, 446–469.