Private Officer Magazine
  • Breaking News
    • Retail/LP
    • Schools
    • Church
  • About
  • Contact

Breaking News

Line of Duty Death: Deputy Sheriff Walter Jenkins
N.H. School Resource Officer Dies after On-Duty Medical Emergency
2 arrested, including 16-year-old, after robbing security guard at gunpoint in southeast Houston
Man convicted of killing casino security guard
Hospital security detain armed man who crashed vehicle into BSA Hospital, shoots out glass door
Second Jersey City security guard charged with submitting false medical claims
Study Ranks Best, Worst States to Be a Police Officer
Texas Sheriff’s Deputy Killed in Collision with Tractor-Trailer
Arrest made in Miami Gardens hit-and-run case that killed Miami Heat security guard
Brink’s driver snuck out $1M from Michigan ATMs through his lunch box
Image result for school police

Daviess County Public Schools creates police force

February 26, 2020

Image result for school police

Daviess County KY Feb 26 2020 Officials for Daviess County Public Schools and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department said the school district’s plan to create its own police force is a positive move for both agencies.

Damon Fleming, director of student services for the school district, said the plan is to have the new force in place in time for the start of school in August, which he said effectively puts more officers on duty in the county.

“Not only are the schools gaining, the community will be gaining four officers,” Fleming said Friday.

The plan, which was announced last week, is for DCPS to hire five special law enforcement officers (SLEOs) to provide security at the schools. The new officers will replace the two school resource officers currently supplied by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department.

The state’s school safety law has a goal of all school districts having a school resource officer or special law enforcement officer in each school, or on each school campus, as resources become available.

Like the sheriff’s deputies they are replacing, the special law enforcement officers will be Police Officer Professional Standards certified, will receive annual training required by the state and will have full law enforcement powers.

Fleming said in terms of structure, district Superintendent Matt Robbins will be over the program, and Fleming, as district school safety coordinator, will have direct oversight of the department. The plan is for one of the five hired to serve as a lead officer who will be responsible for some administrative duties, such as scheduling officer training and records management.

One officer will be stationed at each high school with the other three stationed at Burns Middle School, College View Middle School and Daviess County Middle School. The officers at the middle schools will each be responsible for responding to issues at four elementary schools.

“We are going to want them to spend time in those elementary schools … and also do some programming for those schools as well,” Fleming said. District officials want the officers at the middle schools “to have the flexibility to go out and establish a relationship with those (elementary) kids, too,” he said.

Law enforcement activities are generally public record, except for juvenile records. Fleming said the district’s police department would handle its records the same as the Owensboro Police Department and the sheriff’s office.

The district’s officers would not have arrest powers off school grounds unless they were responding to or investigating an incident that happened on school grounds or on school property like a school bus, Fleming said.

Major Barry Smith, chief deputy for the sheriff’s office, said the school district pays the sheriff’s office $90,000 annually for its two school resource officers. By switching to the SLEO model, DCPS will be able to hire officers at less cost than it pays to use sheriff’s deputies, he said.

“We had discussions on growing the SRO program at the sheriff’s office, but the problem is, financially, as deputy sheriff’s they are classified as hazardous duty.” When a worker is considered hazardous duty in the state’s retirement system, their pension cost is 18% higher than a non-hazardous duty worker, Smith said.

The officers in the school district’s SLEO model would be classified as non-hazardous duty employees. Also, the sheriff’s department pays for health insurance for deputies and their families, which amounts to $14,000 annually for a family plan.

The state pays for insurance for school district employees, so DCPS wouldn’t bear that cost for the SLEO program, Smith said.

Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain said the sheriff’s department has been in discussions with DCPS officials about transitioning from school resource officer to the SLEO model for more than a year.

“Everybody involved in that discussion and dialogue, their first concern is the safety of those kids out there,” Cain said.

The school’s plan “has the advantage of placing more certified officers in our schools,” he said.

The two school resource officers will return to the sheriff’s department, and the department will assume their full salaries. Smith said the plan is to eliminate one deputy position through retirement, with the net result of the department gaining one additional deputy for patrol.

When asked if there were issues with the SRO program that prompted DCPS officials to consider forming their own department, both Fleming and Cain said no.

“We were very happy with it,” Fleming said. “We would have loved to expand with the (SRO) model. But financially, for both parties, it wasn’t possible to expand that way.”

Cain said, “there’s absolutely no negatives to this whatsoever. … My only (preference) would have been to put five more deputies out there, but the funds weren’t available.”

Cain said the new model doesn’t sever the sheriff’s department’s relationship with DCPS.

“We will still have a presence at the schools,” Cain said. “Our officers are encouraged to make frequent visits there” and to engage with the students.

The sheriff’s office will also continue to provide active shooter training to county schools’ staff, Cain said.

In an emergency or request for additional assistance, the sheriff’s department will respond to the schools, Smith said. Regarding the walk-throughs of county schools, he said, “it’s good for students to get to see us. Those (walk-throughs) pay huge dividends, and we’ll continue to do that.”

“The sheriff’s department has been very supportive” of the program, Fleming said. “… We all came to the conclusion that this was the best way forward to expand the program.”

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook on Google+

Related Posts

Line of Duty Death: Deputy Sheriff Walter Jenkins

Breaking News /

Line of Duty Death: Deputy Sheriff Walter Jenkins

Campus Police /

Cleveland Metropolitan School District Security Chief Arrested For DUI Again

General Security /

N.H. School Resource Officer Dies after On-Duty Medical Emergency

‹ DC Issued $1 Billion in Parking, Traffic Tickets Over 3 Years › Carlos Hernandez-Garcia Wins Per Mar’s 2019 Security Officer of the Year Award

Stay Informed

Thanks for signing up!

Sign up for POI newsletter and Email Alerts

Recent Posts

  • Line of Duty Death: Deputy Sheriff Walter Jenkins
  • N.H. School Resource Officer Dies after On-Duty Medical Emergency
  • 2 arrested, including 16-year-old, after robbing security guard at gunpoint in southeast Houston
  • Man convicted of killing casino security guard
  • Hospital security detain armed man who crashed vehicle into BSA Hospital, shoots out glass door

Archives

  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017

Older Archives

Categories

Back to Top

© Private Officer Magazine 2022