Moore County board debates whether to keep its own school police or shift SROs to sheriff

Board member Hensley renewed a long-running campaign to move school resource officer responsibilities out of Moore County Schools' police and into the county sheriff's department, arguing at the Nov. 10 Board of Education meeting that the district's in-house force is "a failed experiment" that lacks the critical mass, infrastructure and recruiting reach of a sheriff's office.

"We're not asking to do something that's odd and unusual," Hensley said, arguing Moore County is one of two North Carolina districts that still operate their own school police and that 113 districts rely on sheriff or municipal-provided SROs. He told the board that the enabling statute uses the word "may," meaning the district can choose to disband the force and arrange coverage differently. Hensley urged making any retained SROs the best-paid and best-trained officers by tying higher pay to…