Can school resource officers curtail viral school fight videos?
School resource officers aren't a school aide, but they're not your typical law enforcement official either.
November 25, 2014Updated: November 26, 2014
By KUAM News
By KUAM News by Krystal Paco
Guam - School resource officers. They're not a school aide, but they're not your typical law enforcement official either.
Over three school years ago, SRO's were deployed to Guam's public schools, but how's the program fairing?
What started out as five school resource officers has grown to nine.
The program, which is a partnership between the Judiciary of Guam and the Department of Education, puts the SRO on school grounds as a means to keep schools safe, teach the law, and serve as a mentor to students.
But with the recent emergence of school fight videos going viral, are SRO's doing their part to deter the violent behavior?
Judiciary of Guam's acting administrator of the courts Josh Tenorio says SRO's are only part of the solution - specifically, prevention.
"I think it's a community issue. With these things going on, I guess there's a phenomenon in social media. I think the role they have to play is coming into the schools in addition to perhaps it being evolved to doing some early intervention," he said.
A quick look at the numbers shows DOE support staff are outnumbered.
"I think the community has to wrap themselves around that this should cost money. I think DOE is saying they're short in school aides on average, these school populations have 1,700 people. So if there's one SRO and seven school aides, I think that that's something that definitely need SRO be looked at," he said.
The nine SRO's are divided between George Washington High School, John F. Kennedy High School, Simon Sanchez High School, Okkodo High School, and Southern High.
The only school without a SRO is Tiyan High. As Tenorio explains, the school wasn't in existence when the program's grant was drafted.
Currently, Tenorio says there are hopes to expand the program to put two SRO's in each of the public high schools.
"There are several schools where we only have one SRO and we are strongly encouraging DOE that there should be a male and a female SRO in each of the high schools that's what we would recommend," he said.
While community discussion has been focused on school safety in recent weeks, the question remains: should SRO's have guns on school grounds?
This was up for debate in the program's early stages, but as Tenorio tells KUAM, it's up to doe to decide. Currently, SRO's are unarmed.
"That discussion is with the DOE it's a community discussion and I think the decision has been made for them not to whether or not it should be reconsidered, I think the form for that is with the Department of Education. It's nothing that I think we would advocate for or against," he said.
According to KUAM files, SRO's are trained in basic officer survival, active shooter situations, judicious use of force or when to use their baton and pepperspray as well as a firearm, and basic report writing.
KUAM files also state that surveys show students reportedly feel safer with the law enforcement officer on campus all day.
Guam - School resource officers. They're not a school aide, but they're not your typical law enforcement official either.
Over three school years ago, SRO's were deployed to Guam's public schools, but how's the program fairing?
What started out as five school resource officers has grown to nine.
The program, which is a partnership between the Judiciary of Guam and the Department of Education, puts the SRO on school grounds as a means to keep schools safe, teach the law, and serve as a mentor to students.
But with the recent emergence of school fight videos going viral, are SRO's doing their part to deter the violent behavior?
Judiciary of Guam's acting administrator of the courts Josh Tenorio says SRO's are only part of the solution - specifically, prevention.
"I think it's a community issue. With these things going on, I guess there's a phenomenon in social media. I think the role they have to play is coming into the schools in addition to perhaps it being evolved to doing some early intervention," he said.
A quick look at the numbers shows DOE support staff are outnumbered.
"I think the community has to wrap themselves around that this should cost money. I think DOE is saying they're short in school aides on average, these school populations have 1,700 people. So if there's one SRO and seven school aides, I think that that's something that definitely need SRO be looked at," he said.
The nine SRO's are divided between George Washington High School, John F. Kennedy High School, Simon Sanchez High School, Okkodo High School, and Southern High.
The only school without a SRO is Tiyan High. As Tenorio explains, the school wasn't in existence when the program's grant was drafted.
Currently, Tenorio says there are hopes to expand the program to put two SRO's in each of the public high schools.
"There are several schools where we only have one SRO and we are strongly encouraging DOE that there should be a male and a female SRO in each of the high schools that's what we would recommend," he said.
While community discussion has been focused on school safety in recent weeks, the question remains: should SRO's have guns on school grounds?
This was up for debate in the program's early stages, but as Tenorio tells KUAM, it's up to doe to decide. Currently, SRO's are unarmed.
"That discussion is with the DOE it's a community discussion and I think the decision has been made for them not to whether or not it should be reconsidered, I think the form for that is with the Department of Education. It's nothing that I think we would advocate for or against," he said.
According to KUAM files, SRO's are trained in basic officer survival, active shooter situations, judicious use of force or when to use their baton and pepperspray as well as a firearm, and basic report writing.
KUAM files also state that surveys show students reportedly feel safer with the law enforcement officer on campus all day.