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Pleasant Hill school resource officer outlines role, youth referrals and concerns about screens
Summary
Tammy Wooden, Pleasant Hill Police Department school resource officer, told the Education Commission she spends most of her time at the high school and three middle schools, emphasized relationship-building and restorative approaches, described referrals to the Youth Early Intervention Partnership and urged parental limits on social media and unsupervised e-bikes.
Tammy Wooden, a school resource officer (SRO) with the Pleasant Hill Police Department, told the Education Commission that she has worked as a police officer for 20 years and has spent the last three to four years assigned to Pleasant Hill schools, splitting time across three middle schools and the high school.
"I've been a police officer with the Pleasant Hill Police Department for 20 years. I'm currently the school resource officer," Wooden said, describing the SRO role as focused on building "positive relationships with the students and staff" through safety education, mentorship and informal counseling as well as providing a rapid response in emergencies.
Wooden said SROs distinguish between school discipline (handled by administrators) and criminal investigations (handled by police). She said the department favors restorative approaches over automatic criminal charges for many student incidents and that SROs primarily support schools by explaining potential legal consequences and making referrals when appropriate.
On early intervention, Wooden described referrals to the Youth Early Intervention Partnership (YEP), which she said is run through the public defender's office and provides legal advice and support to families before matters escalate to the criminal justice system.
Commissioners asked about several operational topics. Wooden said she tries to maintain regular presence at schools (for example, at lunch) so students become familiar with officers. She acknowledged varying levels of administrative receptivity but said no administrator has denied access for the SRO program. On chronic absenteeism she described the student absence review team and said enforcement used to include misdemeanor charges but has since been lowered to an infraction, with departments prioritizing support over punishment.
The SRO highlighted concerns about electronics and social media and their effect on student mental health and peer conflict. She said limiting screen time, delaying social media access and encouraging extracurricular engagement are strategies she has used or recommended. "For myself, since I have two teens as well, I did not give them social media until they were 16," Wooden said when asked about effective parental strategies.
Wooden also discussed e-bikes and scooters: she said some devices are effectively treated as motorized dirt bikes on school property, that students and parents are sometimes given warnings and that repeat incidents can lead to towing or citation. She said the department has a brochure with a QR code summarizing rules and suggested the commission could help distribute it at the start of the school year.
On youth engagement, Wooden said Pleasant Hill Police Department runs tours for students and participates in other outreach; she noted the department does not currently operate an Explorer program but that neighboring agencies and the county sheriff have youth academies and related activities.
The commission thanked Wooden for the briefing and discussed follow-ups including inviting SROs to career days and coordinating outreach materials with schools.
The meeting moved on after a roughly hour-long presentation and question-and-answer period; commissioners signaled interest in helping distribute the SRO brochure and in coordinating school-level contacts for future programs.
