The Milwaukee Police Department gave an extended presentation and Q&A on the SRO program at the Nov. 6 Fire and Police Commission meeting.

Program staffing and training

Captain Vanetta Norberg said the SRO unit currently includes 33 officers, with 25 dedicated to 12 anchor high schools. MPD said assigned officers completed a 40‑hour course from the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). Sarno and Norberg described a careful selection process for officers that includes interview panels and human-resources review and noted supervisory coverage with sergeants, a lieutenant and a commander.

Incidents and school safety work

MPD reported SROs recovered multiple firearms on campuses in schools where SROs are assigned; the department cited involved students between roughly 8 and 17 years old and said it coordinated child-protective and criminal-investigative follow-up in the incident involving an 8‑year‑old who arrived at school with a loaded gun. Norberg said officers also respond to fights and disturbances (notably during lunch and dismissal), provide de-escalation, and connect students to community resources such as the Office of Community Wellness and Safety.

Mentorship, programs and drills

MPD described a pilot "12 with 12" monthly question-and-answer program at King High School that officers and students run and said it will expand the program to other anchor schools beginning in January. Officers have also been introduced to students through mentorship programs at specific schools (for example, a "girls of color" program) and participated in emergency-response drills with MPS.

Data, transparency and complaint processes

Commissioners pressed MPD on data requests: weekly activity summaries are compiled and shared with MPS, and MPD said it can provide aggregated information about interactions, citations and complaints. Commissioners asked whether de-escalations are tracked (MPD said such interactions are recorded in weekly activity forms), whether body-worn cameras are used (MPD said SRO officers wear body cameras and activate them for recorded interactions under department SOP), how parents are notified of serious interactions (MPD said notification can come from administration or MPD and that the district has a parent-coordinator division), and whether juvenile dispositions can be referred to diversion programs (MPD said it coordinates with community partners and outreach to diversion programs but has no formal written diversion workflow yet).

Uniforms and community trust

Commissioners asked whether officers could operate in plain clothes to reduce tensions; MPD said it has not adopted a plain-clothes approach and the chief favors uniformed officers to associate positive interactions with the uniform as part of a public-trust strategy.

Follow-up requests and commitments

Commissioners asked for data comparisons (year-over-year calls for service and other activity totals), citation breakdowns by age/race/gender, aggregated counts of use-of-force and de-escalation events, and clarification of notification pathways to parents. MPD said it can provide comparative call-volume data and weekly activity summaries and will follow up with commissioners.

Why it matters: MPD described an operational SRO model emphasizing selection, NASRO training, mentorship and community referrals, while commissioners and public speakers sought more transparency, data and formalized diversion and complaint processes.