HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- In the swing of summer, Henrico County leaders are ready to spend big on school safety, requesting a budget enhancement of more than $5 million to pay for upgraded security measures like cameras and door buzzers at Tuesday's board meeting.
The county is also eyeing adding 10 more School Resource Officer (SRO) positions to its current staff of 28.
Henrico County Schools Superintendent Amy Cashwell said the county has referred to a school safety panel that would check buildings and give recommendations on safety updates.
“I believe that every step we’re taking is one that’s in a positive direction, but we’re always reevaluating," Cashwell said Tuesday night.
The 10 SRO positions would be instated to make sure trained officers are able to fill in if needed.
"If we build a pool of 10 officers, we not only have SROs, additional SROs who are trained to cover those vacancies when they occur, you also have additional SROs who can help to cover threats when they arise," Maj. Kim Johnson with Henrico Police said at Tuesday's meeting.
Making sure those positions are filled comes down to the county.
“There are ten openings that we could pay for without changing the budget, just shifting 10 people in 3 or 4 different departments to now 10 new police officers, said County Supervisor Chair Patricia O'Bannon.
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Henrico County SROs must have a minimum of three years of service as an officer and 40 hours of schooling through Virginia's Department of Criminal Justice Services. About 40 hours of training is also included through the county. SROs can be fully trained up in 90 days.
"All sworn members of our agency are trained in active shooter response, and we practice those skills regularly. Our SROs are well versed in school safety and security procedures, especially armed intruder response protocols," said in an email to CBS 6 when asked about training requirements. "They help to train school staff members on these procedures and help lead regular drills on them. Additionally, it is important to note that our SROs have significant training that encompasses far more than just active shooter response. Our SROs receive extensive, special training related to working in the school environment."
In a one-on-one interview with CBS 6, O'Bannon showed CBS 6 a list of required training SROs in the county must go through, including crisis intervention and mental health training.
“It takes a special kind of police officer to do this, and they do all manner of things, it’s a different kind of police work," O'Bannon said.
But more officers in schools may ring alarm bells for some.
Tyrone Nelson, Henrico County Supervisor for the Varina District, says he supports increased safety measures and the 10 added SRO positions, but wants the school district to be careful about where these officers are placed, and how they're trained to discipline students.
“My challenge has been, based upon what I saw when I first got elected 10 years ago," he said. "We got nine schools, we got three high schools where 80% of the charges were happening. When you’ve got SROs who are also dolling out discipline, then you’ve got simple assault charges. You got 13-year-olds, 12-year-olds,14-year-olds who were getting charges and ending up in the system."
Based on data from Henrico County during the first semester of the 2021-2022 school year, out of 60 total referrals, 51 were referred by SROs to the juvenile justice system. Officers recommended referral to the diversion process more frequently than they referred students for formal charges on a petition, which results in a court appearance, recommending 41 diversions compared to 10 petitions.
The data shares that 82% of those referred are Black.
Nelson said he wants to make sure officer coverage is balanced.
“I just want to make sure that SROs are proportionately placed throughout the county, and that we don’t have one school with zero or one, and another one with four or five,” Nelson said.
If there's a potential threat made on social media and officers are made aware, they will immediately start to investigate that alleged threat.
“This gives us a little more flexibility to determine where that threat came from," Chief Eric English said during Tuesday's meeting.
It's something O'Bannon said she supported.
“Students are monitored as to the websites that they’re viewing during the week, and then a report is generated, but it goes to their parents. I think that’s perfect. In my opinion, that’s not spying. That’s not over the line, that’s not giving it to SROs."
O'Bannon said the county is working on getting the 10 new positions filled by the beginning of the school year. She said new security cameras and buzzers would be installed by then.
The board is set to vote on the matter in two weeks.
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