Police officer presents plan to place two school resource officers in district
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Summary
A presenter described a plan to embed two school resource officers — a male and a female — in district schools to prioritize safety and build relationships, emphasizing prevention, training and joint selection with district staff; no formal board action was taken at the meeting.
Andrew Moleski, who introduced himself during the meeting, urged the Hamtramck School District board to approve placing school resource officers in district schools to improve student safety and build relationships between students and law enforcement. He said the goal is prevention and trust-building, not routine discipline, and described SRO duties that range from attending extracurricular events and leading training drills to supporting early threat assessment work.
Moleski told the board the district and police would collaboratively interview candidates and try to hire officers already working in the department so the arrangement would be an embedded, special assignment rather than a temporary detail. He said a two-officer model — one male and one female — would allow staff to better meet the needs of the student population and that officers would be trained in nationally-recognized SRO programs before assignment.
The presenter acknowledged community concerns that an SRO presence could increase arrests but disputed that portrayal, saying, “Safety’s gotta be the number 1 priority,” and that the ideal school resource officer “will never use his cuffs” in routine school interactions. He described SROs’ roles in threat assessment teams and in early intervention when students or staff report concerning behavior.
Board members asked about multilingual candidates and alternate staffing if an officer is reassigned; Moleski said the district and police would work together on recruitment and interviews but noted the pool of applicants will determine whether multilingual or alternate officers are immediately available. He also said officers assigned to schools could assist with training and investigations during the school year and return to other duties in the summer.
The presentation did not include a formal motion or vote to institute SROs; board members indicated further work would be needed on funding, job descriptions and interagency agreements before any implementation decision.