Law closes training ‘loophole’ for school police - FOX 59 Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS – Starting this year, a new Indiana law will require any police officer who regularly works inside a school building to undergo 40 hours of specialized training designed for school resource officers.
Chase Lyday, president of the Indiana Association of School Resource Officers (SRO) says there could be up to a thousand officers who work in Indiana schools that haven’t received the training because they don’t technically identify as an SRO. He and other supporters of the new law say the training is needed to properly prepare an officer to work with students. Aspects of the training deal specifically with understanding adolescent brain development.
“It talks about topics like special needs, it talks about topics like trauma, cultural competency, school law, how to deescalate,” Lyday said.” “Topics that are very specific to the work of a school resource officer.”
The role of a School Resource Officer is often described as being three things; an emergency responder, a guest speaker, and a mentor. Lyday says the 40-hour basic SRO training equips a law enforcement officer to fit those roles.
“The goal of the training is to teach an officer how to deal with the nuances and the specific needs of kids,” he said. “That’s something that’s not taught in general education courses, or general training for police officers.”
“The day to day operations of our role are so specialized that it’s important for everyone that works inside a school to be very specifically trained in the role of a school resource officer,” said Carmel Police Sgt. D.J. Schoeff. Schoeff is also the president of the National School Resource Officers Association.
“Understanding the adolescent brain,” Schoeff said. “Understanding the why, if you will, of the decisions of our kids.”
Brian Clouse, Safety and Security Coordinator for Wayne Township Schools says the new law will improve consistency from school to school. “There’s a lot of good training out there.” Clouse said. “Policing the teen brain, teen brain development. But this all is encompassed, a lot of it is encompassed in the basic SRO training.”
Starting July 1, School districts with more than 1,000 students will have six months to make sure any officers who work in their buildings have undergone the 40 hour training. Districts with fewer than 1,000 students will have a year to meet the requirement.
In general, the 40-hour training can cost around $500, Lyday said. Funding from the Indiana Department of Education and Homeland Security school safety grants should be available to help schools and police departments with the costs, he added.
source: https://fox59.com/news/law-closes-training-loophole-for-school-police/
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