- In Ottawa, Canada, Carleton University researchers have released an extensive two-year study of a local School Resource Officer (SRO) program. The research is based on a survey of nearly 1,300 Grade 9 students and 100 interviews with SROs, their bosses, school administrators and students in five Peel Region high schools and a separate social return on investment analysis. The research establishes that the SRO program not only met its stated safety goals, but also improved the relationship between students and police.
- In Wisconsin, the Beloit Board of Education is equipping its school resource officers with body cameras. The cameras will be linked to officer’s stun guns, pistols, and patrol car lights, with each activating the camera during certain behaviors.
- In Pennsylvania, the Bellefonte Area School Board unanimously approved a safety management application called SchoolGuard. SchoolGuard will give all faculty and staff members who choose to install the application on their personal smartphones the ability to immediately notify law enforcement of incidents that take place on school grounds.
- In Essex County, Massachusetts, law enforcement officials in Methuen put to good use a new threat assessment protocol called “Break the Silence.” Aided by the protocol, police managed to crack a case involving a weekend threat posted on social media about the Keller Independent School District in just a matter of hours. The police and school officials issued messages on social media saying there was no threat against the High School and “no cause for concern.”