SCHOOL RESOURCE PROGRAM
Many public schools throughout the state have school resource officers. North Tonawanda is the first community in Western New York to have an entire division dedicated to ensuring the safety of students and staff members in and around the district's campuses.
Pictured in the front row, from left, are SRO Jeffrey Smith, SRO Mahmoud Zeidan, Mayor Austin Tylec, Police Chief Keith Glass, SRO Lt. Erik Herbert, SRO Jeffrey Shiesley and Superintendent Greg Woytila. In the back row, from left, are school principals Greg Burgess, Brad Rowles and Joshua Janese.
Photo by Chitra Selvaraj | Editor Ken-Ton Bee | See below for full article.
SROs are natural collaborators with school officials, parents and city officials on all matters relating to school safety and security.
The North Tonawanda Police Department began with one School Resource Officer (SRO) in the NT High School in 2018.
Now retired, Officer John Snopkowski completed his SRO Training at the Monroe County Public Safety Training Center in Rochester and was appointed to the position in August of that school year.
With the increasing demands for school security, North Tonawanda Police and NT City Schools determined the need for additional officers to ensure the safety of students and staff throughout the entire district.
In early 2023, Police Chief Keith Glass appointed two new SROs along with two alternates, and assigned a dedicated Lieutenant to oversee the SRO division.
These officers completed training ahead of the start of the 2023-24 school year and are now stationed in all NT schools.
The value of SROs to our schools cannot be denied.
If students and educators are to achieve their full potential, schools must be safe and feel safe. According to a 2014 Oxford Forum on Public Policy, students
who report feeling safe in school are more engaged in class, have higher academic achievement, and have lower rates of absenteeism, truancy, and behavioral issues. Educators also benefit from safe schools. Those educators who report feeling safe in school are better able to focus on academics, are more likely to
remain in their positions, and are better equipped to teach and support students.
Simply put, feeling safe in school is connected to achieving educational outcomes for students.
As a school safety and security practitioner, the SRO can take a tremendous burden off school officials by managing the daily task of school safety and security. This means not just relying on having a response plan, it means actively tracking potential threats and managing those threats well before they manifest into the unthinkable. A well-trained SRO can provide active threat analysis and school vulnerability assessments (SVA) on an ongoing basis. Having someone in house to conduct those can save a community thousands of dollars.
As a law-related educator, the SRO can serve as a resource for educators in the sharing of their experience and expertise when invited into the classroom as guest speakers. Classroom presentations by an SRO complement the school curriculum as well as allowing the SRO to interact with students and discuss law-related issues. The contact the SRO has with students in the classroom can be a very positive learning experience.
As a law-related counselor, the SRO is used to conducting street-level, law-related counseling. Officers are frequently called upon to help resolve problems that are not necessarily criminal matters. Similarly, school counselors will often call upon the SRO to assist in conflict mediation efforts.
As a law enforcement officer, the school becomes the officer’s beat ‒ safeguarding a community within a community. The SRO assists the school administration in maintaining a safe and secure environment. School administrators benefit from the SRO’s training, knowledge and experience in handling situations involving possible weapons violations or in the identification of controlled dangerous substances. The SRO provides a highly visible presence to deter or identify trespassers on campus.