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Phoenix subcommittee advances school resource officer agreements, expands retired-officer pathway
Summary
The subcommittee voted to forward 2026–27 school resource officer agreements to full council and highlighted a new retired-SRO (RSRO) pathway that lets retired Arizona officers return to school assignments without affecting pensions; staff said they will maintain at least 69 SRO/RSRO positions as grant awards are finalized.
Phoenix Public Safety & Justice Subcommittee members on June 3 voted to advance school resource officer (SRO) agreements to the full City Council and described a newly created retired school resource officer (RSRO) position designed to supplement staffing.
Assistant Police Director Court Hood and Assistant Chief Joe Climma described the program structure and training requirements for SROs, RSROs and school safety officers (SSOs). Climma said that during the 2025–26 school year the department assigned 69 SROs and RSROs to 80 schools and that the department intends to maintain a minimum of 69 such positions for 2026–27 while bringing on more RSROs as available.
Officials explained that the state’s grant-awarding process has changed this year to include a secondary awarding round and that the department received a preliminary list of awarded districts posted June 1 that includes most of the schools with which the city already has agreements. The department said it will work with education partners to finalize specific school assignments after receipt of the final award list.
Councilmembers praised the retired-officer pathway as a way to address staffing shortages without jeopardizing pensions; the transcript records thanks to state and legislative partners who enabled the change. The committee voted to forward the agreements to full council by voice vote.
Next steps: staff will present a finalized list of assignments after the state’s secondary award list is published and return to council if additional agreements are required.
