DANVILLE — Beginning in January 2009, the presence of a police officer in Danville schools won’t mean anything is wrong. Just the opposite, in fact.
January is when funding for such a position would begin if the village of Danville is awarded a grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services this fall. The grant would pay for a School Resource Officer, a full-time police officer who is assigned to work exclusively in the school system.
According to Danville Police Chief Monte Vance, who is filing the paperwork for the grant, the greatest benefit provided by SROs is a sense of familiarity and stability.
“This gives the officer the ability to be involved with children, and there are many benefits to be reaped from that. The children will build trust for law enforcement,” he said.
If awarded to Danville, the grant would provide 75 percent of the necessary funding to place an officer in the Danville school system. The Danville Police Department and the school district would pay the remaining 25 percent.
Vance said the SRO would split time between the elementary and high school buildings. However, the officer would be an employee of the village, not the school district.
“The officer could ride on a school bus or attend afterschool activities if asked to. [The officer] would be there at the disposal of the school,” Vance said.
The Danvile SRO’s primary responsibilities would be to provide crime prevention, law enforcement and education. Vance said the officer would deliver presentations on crime prevention and safety to students, faculty and staff, and that the SRO would also be responsible for developing a shooter response policy.
During the months when school is not in session, the SRO would be assigned to patrol in the village.
The application for the OOCJS grant is due by July 2; the recipients are announced in late fall. The grant provides funding from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, which means that, should Danville be awarded the grant, an SRO would work from January 2009 until December 2009.
Danville High School Principal Linda Kay Rex said the SRO would be good for the school.
“It’s not that we’re a huge school district with lots of internal problems. Our local officers already know families and children well. This is just another avenue for us to assist students,” she said.
Vance said the grant would not affect funding in the rest of the department. He also said Danville could not afford an SRO without the grant, which is renewable.
Rex said she doesn’t expect a lot of contention over the school district’s responsibility to pay a quarter of the funding. She said the real debate might occur once the grant expires.
“At that point we’d have to decide if it’s something we like and how to pay for it,” she said.
SROs are used in schools throughout Ohio. Vance said he was particularly impressed when he learned how well an SRO in Westerville got along with students.
“This officer had built such rapport and trust with the students that the senior class asked him to present diplomas at graduation,” Vance said.
Mount Vernon City School District Superintendent Steve Short said he has considered pursuing a grant to fund an SRO. He said he has followed Danville’s attempt to secure the OOCJS grant.
“We’re always looking for ways to make the school safer for kids, especially when we can do that in a cost-effective way,” he said.
But Short said the district has no immediate plans to hire an SRO.
“We’re trying to work through the cost and become familiar with the qualifications for a grant. We haven’t applied yet,” he said.
Vance said he has received positive feedback regarding his pursuit of an SRO for the Danville school system.
“I’ve had people come up to my cruiser and say, ‘This is good for the community.’ I’ve had several positive reactions,” he said.
