Duties of School Resource Officers in Utah

School resource officers have many duties related to their positions supervising education facilities throughout Utah. These obligations don’t always involve breaking up fights and keeping the school grounds drug and weapon free.

School resource officers A.K.A. school cops

School resource officers often get a bad rap patrolling the hallways of Utah schools almost as if their position is a type of demotion or security guard status. On the contrary, school cops are law enforcement officers who are not only responsible for ensuring that all activities in and around the school are lawful, but also for teaching and mentoring the youth they oversee.

Real police officers

School resource officers are regular police officers but who are specially contracted to work with the “local education agency” or LEA. As stated in Utah Code 53A-11-1604, school resource officers are to:

“(i) provide for and maintain a safe, healthy, and productive learning environment in a school;
(ii) act as a positive role model to students;
(iii) work to create a cooperative, proactive, and problem-solving partnership between law enforcement and the LEA;
(iv) emphasize the use of restorative approaches to address negative behavior; and
(v) at the request of the LEA, teach a vocational law enforcement class;”

Trained specifically to work with the youth

Being a school cop usually requires additional training beyond the police academy and field training programs. According to Utah Code 53A-11-1603, in order to best serve the schools and the students they serve, school resource officers may be specifically trained in:

“(a) childhood and adolescent development;
(b) responding age-appropriately to students;
(c) working with disabled students;
(d) techniques to de-escalate and resolve conflict;
(e) cultural awareness;
(f) restorative justice practices;
(g) identifying a student exposed to violence or trauma and referring the student to appropriate resources;
(h) student privacy rights;
(i) negative consequences associated with youth involvement in the juvenile and criminal justice systems;
(j) strategies to reduce juvenile justice involvement; and
(k) roles of and distinctions between a school resource officer and other school staff who help keep a school secure.”

Chose to work in a school setting

It is important to teach Utah children that school cops are sworn law enforcement officers and should be respected as such. Additionally, children should not fear their school resource officers. They should known them as someone who is passionate about education and is there to help the kids gain an education in a safe setting while being a liaison between the schools and the police department.