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Police community outreach: SROs, diversions and school engagement reported to committee
Summary
Sergeant Roberts summarized Police Department community outreach activities including Police Pals classroom visits, school resource officer programs, diversion use and senior‑targeted outreach.
Sergeant Roberts told the Public Safety and Use Services Committee that the department’s community outreach programs have reached thousands of students and residents and described SRO activity and diversion efforts.
"Since January have taught 500 elementary classes and, 10 70 visited classrooms for the year so far," Sergeant Roberts said, describing Police Pals outreach and other school visits.
Roberts said staff participated in multiple career fairs, an Iowa State Fairgrounds Build My Future career fair that drew about 7,000 students, job shadow days with Kirkwood Learning Center and classroom sessions with community programs such as Champions and IJAG (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates). He said School Resource Officers have presented Run, Hide, Fight training, completed lockdown drills and have investigated eight school threats this year, and that SROs completed 35 diversion cases meant to keep students out of the criminal justice system by assigning alternate interventions.
The sergeant also described ongoing work with seniors on fraud and identity‑theft prevention, and regular Coffee with a Cop events to connect officers and residents. Committee members asked for more granular data on SRO activity by school and year‑to‑date diversion outcomes; Roberts said more detailed breakdowns can be provided at the end of the school year and that some arrest‑and‑contact data will be compiled by Lieutenant Walsh for an annual report.
Council members praised the department’s prevention and diversion work and suggested continued tracking of outcomes. There was no formal committee action tied to the presentation; members asked staff to return with school‑level data when available.
