Columbia Police, schools strike a deal for officer program
Funding for School Resource Officers shifts to schools.
Published April 24, 2009
Columbia Public Schools and the Columbia Police Department are working on a new contract for school resource officers.
CPS will start to pay for more of the funding for the School Resource Officer program.
"They're agreeing on paying at least half for each of the SRO's funding," CPD Sgt. Eric White said. "It's definitely a good situation for us because there was a possibility that the unit might have been disbanded."
CPS Superintendent Lynn Barnett said there isn't a contract yet, but both groups are working on it.
For the new contract, funding will be shifted from the police to the schools. The school district is making reductions to help shoulder the cost.
Barnett said the economic troubles affecting CPD and the school district are the reason for the change.
The contract will not create new officer positions.
"There may be different officers but not new placements," Barnett said. "The schools that have them are not going to change."
Barnett said safety in public schools is the highest priority and the school district has a good working relationship with CPD.
The program has caused controversy for the department and the school district. In October 2008, Hickman High School resource officer Mark Brotemarkle was investigated for his use of force when breaking up a fight. Videos of the fight showed Brotemarkle and other officers throwing students to the ground and handcuffing them.
Following the incident, then-Interim Police Chief Tom Dresner issued a statement asking the public to be patient while the department investigated the incident.
Brotemarkle was eventually reassigned to Hickman while the department conducted its investigation. Dresner said school resource officers were not easily interchangeable, which is why he wanted Brotemarkle assigned to Hickman.
The department released its findings in a report in December 2008. The report said Brotemarkle used the appropriate amount of force necessary for the situation.
Boone County's Web site state school resource officers act as police officers and as a resource for students, parents and faculty. Their purpose in the school is to help prevent destructive behavior and serve as role models for students. The program started in Boone County in 2002 and combined with the local DARE program the following year.
"You can kind of compare it to being a police officer in a small town," said Deputy Larry Deitzel, a school resource officer for Hallsville R-IV and Two Mile Prairie School Districts.
Deitzel said school resource officers spend more time with students than other perpetrators.
"If you do have to arrest a juvenile, you don't just deal with him for 10 to 15 minutes," he said.
School resource officers continue to monitor and help students who are arrested.
"You try to turn some of these kids that make poor choices," Deitzel said.
