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Chief urges value of SRO program as city, district weigh second officer and funding
Summary
Silverton police chief reviewed the school resource officer (SRO) program history, duties and training and said the district's partial funding model supports a single SRO; board members said they value a second SRO but cited budget pressures and asked for detailed call data to inform any shared‑funding decision.
Todd Engstrom, Silverton's police chief, reviewed the history and role of the district's school resource officer program and told the joint meeting that the position combines response duties, event coverage and regular active‑threat training. "I absolutely love the fact that we have a school resource officer in our school," he said, describing the position as a mix of patrol response and school engagement.
Engstrom said the district pays a majority of the position: "the school district pays 75% of the position," and the city bills that share across nine months of the school year. He told trustees and councilors that SRO call counts include incidents generated at school and community calls that are logged to the SRO call type in the computer‑aided dispatch system, and that COVID altered the pattern of responses.
Board members and the superintendent said they see the program's value but noted competing priorities—teachers, counselors, special‑education aides and deferred maintenance—and requested a more detailed breakdown of the SRO call types. Several councilors expressed openness to exploring a second SRO if the district confirmed the operational need and if funding could be shared in a way that reduces the district burden. No formal motion was taken; staff agreed to provide further statistics and to continue discussions as budget planning advances.
