Gresham pauses SRO program at 3 school districts due to police staffing shortage
Gresham OR July 15th 2022 Three metro area school districts may not have school resource officers this coming fall because of a staff shortage at the Gresham Police Department.
The school districts that will be affected are Centennial, Gresham-Barlow and Reynolds.
The City of Gresham said it needs to send officers who are currently in the School Resource Officer (SRO) program back on patrol. The city said it needs more officers on the street to respond to serious crime, like this past weekend’s shootings.
“While this was a very difficult decision because we understand the value of our school resource officers to the community, it is what’s necessary at this time to increase our ability to respond to emergencies,” said Gresham Police Chief Travis Gullberg.
Gullberg went on to say as soon as the Gresham Police Department has enough officers it will again offer SRO’s to the three school districts.
In the Gresham-Barlow School District, there is normally an officer at Gresham and Sam Barlow High Schools.
In the Centennial School District, an officer is at Centennial High. In the Reynolds School District, an officer is typically at H.B. Lee Middle School.
“Many individuals are making difficult decisions about whether they continue in this profession, whether they go to another agency, whether they move away, whether they retire early,” Gulberg said. “There’s a combination, I don’t have all the answers.”
A spokesman for Gresham-Barlow School District sent the following statement:
The Gresham-Barlow School District is disappointed to hear that the Gresham Police Department (GPD) will be pausing the School Resource Officer (SRO) program in the three school districts it serves. We understand the challenges the police department is facing and their need to re-deploy SROs to patrol positions.
The school resource officer program is critically important to our schools and an essential part of our school safety equation. We are contacting other law enforcement agencies to determine if there are other options available to us during this time. We will provide an update on this work prior to the start of school.
A similar plan is underway in Reynolds School District. Centennial School District did not confirm its current plans.
Right now, the police department is trying to hire 19 officers to fill empty positions, but even when those officers do get hired it takes about 18 months before they are fully trained.
KPTV
