Santa Rosa City Council approves MOU to relaunch school resource officer program

The Santa Rosa City Council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with Santa Rosa City Schools to resume a school resource officer (SRO) program, the council decided May 2025. The agreement sets a three-year framework for placing SROs on campus and calls for enhanced training, data reporting and clear boundaries between administrative school discipline and law-enforcement action.

The SRO plan was the product of a months‑long review that included a 32‑member community working group and a 3‑by‑3 committee of city and school board representatives. Sergeant Matt Crosby, who served as an SRO and helped draft the agreement, said the program’s mission is to “collaborate with the Santa Rosa School Districts to ensure a safe learning environment, provide valuable resources to school staff and youth, and to prevent and solve problems within the school and community.”

Chief John Kriegen told the council the presentation summarized three years of data and community input and noted spikes in on‑campus safety incidents after the 2020 pause in the program. The police department’s report cited more than 1,100 calls for service to Santa Rosa City Schools in 2024 alone and referenced several violent incidents at local high schools over the prior three years.

The MOU spells out a triage approach to SRO duties consistent with National Association of School Resource Officers principles — officers acting as mentors, teachers and law‑enforcement when required — and requires dedicated supervision, enhanced training on adolescent development and implicit bias, and quarterly public reporting on SRO activity. Chief Kriegen said the city and district will publish quarterly summaries breaking down arrests and enforcement actions by category and demographics to increase transparency.

Councilmembers asked about implementation timing and costs. City staff said the MOU does not include guaranteed local funding; estimated first‑year costs for five SROs plus a supervising sergeant were presented at roughly $2.1 million with annual ongoing costs near $1.7 million. City and district leaders said they will pursue state and federal grants — including an application to the federal COPS Office — and work to identify stable funding before positions are added to the department payroll. City staff cautioned the council the program could not be implemented immediately because current city staffing and budget constraints would require external funds or program reallocation.

Public comment included students, parents and community members who both urged a careful, well‑resourced return of SROs and emphasized robust transparency and training requirements. Anna Diaz of Roseland — who said she grew up in the neighborhood — told the council she supported the MOU and said SROs can be a preventive presence when properly supervised and trained.

The council voted to approve the MOU and delegated authority to the city manager to execute the agreement, subject to city attorney review. The vote was recorded as unanimous: Rogers, O'Krepski, McDonald, Fleming, Benuelos, Vice Mayor Alvarez and Mayor Mark Stapp voted aye.

The MOU will return to the council if a funding plan requires use of city general‑fund dollars. In the meantime, city and school staff will pursue outside grants and report back to council on potential implementation timelines and funding sources.