Fourth District school board member Billy Miller addressed the county commission Thursday night to request that more school resource officers be placed in county schools.
Miller, who is also a TBI agent, told commissioners that he came before them not as a school board member or an officer of the law, but as a concerned parent.
“I am an elected school board member, but I have two boys that mean the world to me, and that's why I'm here,” Miller said. “I think it is my duty as a parent and as a citizen of this community to make sure that I do the best that I can by my kids, and I know that's what every one of you want.”
While DeKalb County currently has one SRO at the high school, Miller told the commission that he feels that an officer also needs to be funded at the other four schools.
Miller said that while random daily visits to local schools by the Smithville Police Department are good, they can’t match the security of having an SRO on duty at the facilities full time.
“I think it's a good thing that the city has been out there, and they've had officers out there. I think that's a great idea,” Miller noted. “The only thing with that is if a guy is going to do you harm, he's going to wait until that officer leaves. Very few of any of your school-involved shootings come from some random guy off the street. It’s somebody who has taken time and studied the school and studied the movements of the teachers or knows that he can get to the path of least resistance.
“I think it’s beneficial for every school to have one,” Miller continued. “An SRO is not going to take care of everything, but used in the right manner he can greatly decrease the issues that may happen at the schools.”
According to Miller, statistics show that many school shootings arise from issues at home.
He said that by establishing relationships with students, an SRO can often prevent the problem before violence comes into play.
“Eighty percent of all issues that come in school shootings are domestic issues,” Miller told the assembly. “That's where having an SRO on a daily basis who knows students can affect a student.
“There are examples where an officer has picked up on a kid, pulled him aside, talked to him, and found out if there is any kind of issue going on at home. It can save a lot of these tragedies from happening.
“By having an officer there all the time, every day, they know the kids, but it takes a unique personality for that. Not every officer can go in there and be a true mentor at the elementary and high-school level,” Miller shared.
Miller said that an SRO who establishes relationships with students can often stop trouble before it starts.
“A kid confides in an SRO, and might tell him if they know of a gun in somebody's locker,” Miller said. “It’s pro-active policing basically. If you can stop a crime before it ever happens, you're way ahead of the game, and that's what SROs do. They are there to get that familiarity with the kid and gain his trust.”
According to state standards all SROs must be certified by the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission and are required to have a special training, Miller said.
“State law says that an SRO shall participate in 40 hours of basic training in school policing within 12 months of being assigned to the school,” he noted. “Every year thereafter, a minimum of 16 hours of training is required specific to school policing.”
Sheriff Patrick Ray told the mayor and commissioners that the cost for each SRO would be about $55,000 for the first year, but the expense would be less after the officers were hired and equipped.
“It would be $55,000 per officer to get them started, like any officer,” Ray said.
“That's for their uniforms and everything to equip them, plus the training."
After the SROs are hired and equipped, the cost would only entail salaries for the officers.
Miller said that more resource officers are not the only way the school system is exploring to address safety concerns, including more video surveillance.
“We've got a bricks-and-mortar study coming up so hopefully we can see how we can keep them from just coming in, a way where they would have to come in through a certain door to a room and then have to show an ID,” Miller explained.
“We're looking at upgrading cameras in the school system,” he said. “Sumner County has a really neat program, and I think it would be very effective for us as well.
“They have an interactive program where at the main office, you can see any school at any point in time to see if something is going on. It’s not that costly to do with today's technology, and if you're an officer with wireless access at school, if you pull up on the scene, you might be able to see where that guy is at in the school,” Miller said.
He said that DeKalb Emergency Management Agency Coordinator and Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker has recommended a program with an online map of school floor plans be enacted.
“Charlie Parker came up with the idea of having blue prints of the schools made as an interactive map, so that if you do have officers that need to respond, you can get online and see the outline of the school buildings,” Miller said. “There are officers who have never been in the school system, and that would be helpful to them.”
“If we combine all these efforts, it’s going to greatly decrease someone coming in and harming our kids and kids in a safer environment are going to learn better,” Miller said.
The Thursday meeting was a committee meeting, and no action could be taken on the matter.