Amendment Offered In Support Of School Resource Officers

Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 7:09 AM

This amendment passed unanimously through the House.

(Photo: State Rep. Terri Austin (D-Anderson).)

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - On Monday, an amendment was proposed to allow the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to have insight of how many school districts are currently served by School Resource Officers (SROs).

This amendment would require school corporations and charter schools to report the number of SROs serving the school corporation to the DHS by creating a School Resource Officer Report.

These numbers would be reported annually.

“School Resource Officers play an important role in schools across Indiana. Knowing how many school districts have trained SROs is the first step to communicating transparency and improving school security. The value SROs bring to overall school safety is vital. They are not only a lifeline during emergency situations, but they also provide daily peace of mind to students, teachers and parents by maintaining a constant presence in the school. The bottom line is, School Resource Officers save lives. The sooner we can know how many we have, the sooner we can add more where they are needed most. I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the parent… wouldn’t you want to know if there are school resource officers employed in your child’s district,” says author of the amendment, State Rep. Terri Austin (D-Anderson).

This amendment passed unanimously through the House.