Stafford County may put armed “school protection officers in elementary schools
Stafford County VA May 4 2018
Stafford County may put armed “school protection officers” in at least three of its 17 elementary schools over the next year, in what Sheriff David Decatur described as an innovative pilot program.
The Sheriff’s Office hopes to recruit former or retired law enforcement officers and service members for the position, which would protect students and teachers against violence, according to a report. The protection officers would be sworn deputies, but undergo specialized training that would take less time to complete than the 18-week criminal justice academy required of traditional deputies, Decatur said.
The Board of Supervisors heard a presentation on the pilot program during a meeting Tuesday, the day before it is scheduled to vote on a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. School safety has been a major topic this year following the mass shooting Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Decatur proposed adding six protection officers next fiscal year and another 12 during the fiscal year after that in order to put one at each elementary school and at the Head Start facility off U.S. 17. The Sheriff’s Office also requested money for two sergeants and a 2nd lieutenant to supervise the protection officers, putting the two-year price tag at about $1.9 million.
But supervisors expressed support for what county officials referred to as a “reduced pilot option” that includes three elementary school protection officers and a sergeant next fiscal year at a cost of $402,703. Decatur said he will work with the school system to determine where to place those officers.
It’s unclear how many protection officers, if any, would be funded for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019.
Stafford and most other school systems in the Fredericksburg region have school resource officers, or SROs, at all middle and high schools, but the Parkland, Fla., shooting renewed a push for more protection for younger students. Spotsylvania, Caroline and King George counties all plan to put SROs in every elementary school over the next year.
Decatur said the plan for protection officers would be a first for the state, calling it an “innovative, creative approach to the interest and desire … to add another layer of security in schools.”
The protection officers represent a less expensive alternative to SROs, which would cost nearly $1 million more to place in every elementary school, Decatur said. SROs require more training and equipment, but the sheriff emphasized that the protection officers would not be a “watered-down” deputy.
“It’s just a specifically trained school security deputy that will have the power to arrest,” Decatur said. “I just want to make it clear we’re not going to give schools any less than our best.”
He said that, unlike regular deputies, the protection officers would not need training and equipment related to car-accident investigations.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, their primary duties would include:
Patrolling the school
Maintaining “situational awareness” of visitors and activities at the school
Intervening in “all perceived threats” to teachers, students and visitors
Training school employees on how to respond to threats
Holding exercises and drills to prepare for emergencies.
The protection officers would technically be part-time employees, working 35 to 40 hours a week during the 10-month school year. They would carry a concealed firearm and wear “low-profile clothing that would fit the elementary school environment,” a Sheriff’s Office report stated.
