GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Green Bay Police Department is looking at taking steps towards the future of the School Resource Officer program, with a possible expansion.
Following the tragedy at Parkland High School in early February, Capt. Kevin Warych tells Fox 11 that the department started collecting data from the program.
“What we’re doing is we are looking at the SRO program,” said Warych. “And we’re trying to determine, what’s working, what’s good and what needs improvement.”
Warych says the SRO program currently has 11 officers, which rotate around the district’s 42 schools.
One of the possibilities, he says the study is looking at is putting school resources officers in elementary schools.
“If they have that rapport and if we can build that rapport early on in elementary school, it’s going to go well in middle and high school.”
In June, the Green Bay School Board decided not to move forward with Chief Smith’s proposal to have armed guard at its’ schools.
“The armed guard proposal, the school board voted that’s not the direction they want to go in,” Warych continued. “This is not an alternative.”
The department is working in partnership with the Green Bay School District.
As for exactly what changes will be proposed, Warych says the study results are near completion.
“At this point, we don’t exactly know what we’re are going to change. It’s important that we just get the data.”
