Gwinnett County Public Schools is committed to ensuring its schools are safe and orderly, and the district’s Office of Safety and Security is key to those efforts. During School Police Week, we celebrate the work of our School Resource Officers (SROs), dispatchers, crossing guards, and other staff who work to provide a safe and secure learning environment for our students and staff.
The Gwinnett County Public Schools Police Department maintains State of Georgia Law Enforcement Certification, a distinction currently held by only three public school system police agencies in the state. Being state certified ensures an agency continues to meet critical standards in law enforcement and noncritical standards in administration.
GCPS employs 74 SROs, with funding for 10 more SROs in the FY2019 budget. These highly qualified professionals have at five or more years of experience in law enforcement and hold postsecondary degrees. In fact, among Gwinnett's school resource officers, 35% also hold master's degrees. Our SROs are housed in schools— two SROs at every high school and one SRO at every middle school. They serve their home school as well as elementaries and other school facilities in the cluster. In addition to policing campuses, SROs focus on educating students, staff, and parents on safety issues and working with school administrators on school safety plans.
We appreciate all that the Safety and Security team does to ensure that our schools remain safe and secure!
Make sure to thank your SRO this week for all that they do!
#ThankAnSRO
SROs… Thanks for what you do!
Gwinnett's school resource officers take a multifaceted approach to community policing in the schools is commonly, engaging in three types of activities: law enforcement, counseling/mentoring, and law-related education.
- Law Enforcement: Schools continue to be a reflection of the broader community. The presence of officers on campus enhances the perception of safety by students, staff, and the community. The alleviation of disruption, crime, and violence in the schools, through proactive and preventive interventions, enhances the safe and productive learning environment for our students.
- Counseling/Mentoring: School resource officers develop and improve relationships with students through mentoring and counseling. This interaction provides a different insight for students into the role of law enforcement in the community. By providing positive role models, students are encouraged to take responsibility for their community as well as promoting and enhancing acceptable social behaviors.
- Law-Related Education: Through interaction in the classroom, school resource officers provide guidance and expertise on many topics. In addition, they are available to provide training and education to teachers, staff, parents, and community organizations. A school-community partnership launched last school year supports Gwinnett high school students interested in exploring careers in law enforcement. GCPS’ Department of Safety and Security and its school resource officers teamed up with the Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to create a co-ed Law Enforcement Explorer Post for students, ages 14-20. Veteran police officers provide the students with hands-on law enforcement training in a variety of areas, including traffic stops, search and seizure, domestic violence, and DUI and accident investigations.