Harrisburg School District plans to start police force
Dauphin County PA June 16, 2023 The Harrisburg School District says it is planning to start its own police force.
The District Receiver, Dr. Lori Suski, cut ties with a program during Tuesday night’s School Board meeting, that will free up money for the budget; which calls for hiring two police officers and a data entry officer to start next school year.
Suski says they’ve been discussing this for months.
“At this point in time we would like to move forward as an added safety measure for our schools; however we know these things take time.” Suski told CBS 21 News.
The District says people should not expect officers to be in schools at the beginning of the next school year and that officers will not be at each school.
Right now, the District is looking at spending $370,000 on the plan.
The District has been in financial recovery for years, so CBS 21 News asked how they could afford it.
“We’re exploring federal grants to help supplement some of the costs that are associated with school police and overall security and we are also going to be evaluating every position within the District.” said Dr. Marcia Stokes, CFO, Harrisburg School District.
District leaders say they’ll be evaluating how the program goes this year before possibly expanding it.
