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Task force hears that SRO availability varies; POST sets training standards
Summary
Officials told the task force there is no statewide requirement that each campus must have a school resource officer; POST sets SRO curriculum and funding comes from varied local and federal sources.
Representatives from law enforcement and the Louisiana POST Council briefed the task force on the state of school resource officers and training requirements.
Rebecca Taylor Hill, representing the Louisiana POST Council, said POST sets the SRO curriculum and that federal Juvenile Justice funding currently supports SRO training development and delivery. “There is a requirement in place that if an officer is assigned to a school as an SRO, they are required to meet the post training minimum requirement within 2 years of that assignment,” Taylor said.
Sheriff Jason Richardson and other law‑enforcement officials told the panel there is no single statewide standard for whether a district will have a dedicated SRO at every campus. Coverage varies: some agencies assign one officer to multiple campuses; some districts and parishes fund dedicated SRO positions through local tax revenues or federal grants such as COPS; and some systems have explored alternate security models (for example, employing retired law‑enforcement officers or private security under local arrangements).
Task force members discussed whether the state should set minimum staffing or funding guidelines and asked for more detailed data on where SROs are assigned and how they are funded. Officials said POST’s SRO model requires officers to have two years of prior law‑enforcement experience before attending SRO certification, which limits immediate staffing options for smaller agencies.
No statutory change was proposed during the meeting; task force members requested a future briefing from POST and local agencies with concrete counts of SRO presence and funding sources in each parish.
