The Milwaukee Board of School Directors expects officers to be in schools Monday, March 17, more than a year after the start date required by Wisconsin Act 12.
Last week, Milwaukee police officers began their training to be school resource officers.
This comes a week and a half after Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Borowski ruled the city was in contempt for failing to select officers and get them the required training to work with Milwaukee Public Schools.
Although Borowski expressed doubts about the necessity of the training, it is called for by Act 12, which requires at least 25 school resource officers be placed in MPS.
A school resource officer is a law enforcement officer who works full time in collaboration with a school district, according to Act 12.
Those providing the training say that such school-specific training is crucial for officers to do the job effectively and safely.
“Putting a cop in a school without specific training would be as inadvisable as putting a cop on a SWAT team or in a hostage negotiator position without special training,” said a spokesperson for the National Association of School Resource Officers, the organization providing the training.
“Doing so would increase the likelihood of unintended consequences.”
About the curriculum
The training is made up of 18 modules, or lessons, taking 40 hours to complete.
The lessons are based on the premise that school resource officers deal with a unique population of people, said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of Schools Resource Officers and one of the instructors for MPD officers.
“It’s critical that anyone who’s going into work with adolescents eight hours a day … are properly trained to do so.”
Adolescents are different – developmentally, psychologically, behaviorally – than adults, so much of the training gets at why that is and how to “meet them where they are,” Canady said.
The lessons cover adolescent brain development, special needs students, substance abuse, trauma and suicide.
They also deal with risks specific to adolescents, including human trafficking, digital safety, violence targeting students and armed assailants.
Other lessons include the history of school resource officers as well as school-related laws and important court-decisions.
Education first
As a whole, the training is designed to prioritize safety at schools. However, safety at a school is deeply connected to the quality of an education available to kids, said Rudy Perez, senior adviser for the National Association of Resource Officers.
“In order for kids to graduate, they have to feel safe,” he said. “They have to be able to get to school safely. They have to be able to get home safely and attend every activity.”
“When you have a well-trained SRO (school resource officer), they are truly focused on … not being punitive but “getting kids resources,” Perez said. “That’s why they’re called ‘resource’ officers.”
Next steps
Borowski scheduled another hearing for Monday, March 17, during which the city must show progress toward getting officers trained, among other demands. If the city fails to do so, Borowski said he would impose a fine of $1,000 dollars a day.
In case you missed it
Judge orders at least 25 police officers be placed in MPS schools by Feb. 27
Will officers be placed in MPS schools before the Feb. 17 deadline? It doesn’t look like it
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