Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety Sro topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
School resource officers describe daily duties, safety programs and community outreach
Summary
Officer Cassie Thompson and Officer Angela Patterson briefed the committee on SRO activities: school check-ins, lockdown drills, building walks, classroom drop-ins, bike safety and community events; they emphasized relationship building and training opportunities.
Officer Cassie Thompson, the district’s school resource officer since February 2015, and Officer Angela Patterson, introduced as a former Nantucket High School graduate, presented an update on Oct. 8 describing the SROs’ daily duties, training and student-facing programs.
Thompson said SRO shifts generally run 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and after-hours incidents require contacting the station. Typical SRO activities described included building and grounds walk-throughs, classroom drop-ins, coordination with counselors and social workers, lockdown training for staff and students, assistance with juvenile-court and DCF cases, and camera monitoring across campuses.
The officers highlighted outreach and preventive programming: bike-safety training, Halloween safety bags, fourth-grade bike-safety events with a local bike shop, the Special Olympics, driver’s-education sessions on impaired-driving consequences, and e-bike safety classes for students who ride to school. Thompson said there are approximately 350 cameras across campuses used in investigations and routine checks. She described an intention to build strong relationships so students view officers as safe reporting resources.
Committee members thanked the officers and welcomed Officer Patterson. Thompson said the department supports officer professional development and training if related to school duties; she said she and Patterson are working to identify training opportunities. No formal committee action was requested or taken on the SRO update.
Thompson encouraged staff and committee members to flag training needs so the SROs can pursue them, and noted officers sometimes supply helmets, locks or other assistance for students in need.
