The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: Case Studies of 19 School Resource Officer (SRO) Programs Author(s): Peter Finn, Jack McDevitt, William Lassiter, Michael Shively, Tom Rich Document No.: 209271 Date Received: March 2005 Award Number: 2000-IJ-CX-K002 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally- funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Case Studies of 19 School Resource Officer (SRO) Programs Cambridge, MA Lexington, MA Hadley, MA Bethesda, MD February 28, 2005 Washington, DC Chicago, IL Cairo, Egypt Johannesburg, South Africa Prepared for Brett Chapman National Institute of Justice 810 7th Street NW Washington, DC 20531 Prepared by Abt Associates Inc. Peter Finn, Abt Associates 55 Wheeler Street Jack McDevitt, Northeastern Cambridge, MA 02138 University William Lassiter, Center for the Prevention of School Violence Michael Shively, Abt Associates Tom Rich, Abt Associates This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Table of Contents Introduction........................................................................................................................1 Other Reports the National Assessment Prepared ...................................................1 The Choice of Programs to Study............................................................................2 Organization of the Case Studies.............................................................................5 Large Established Site One...............................................................................................9 Capsule Program Description ..............................................................................................9 The Site ..............................................................................................................................11 The Police Department ..........................................................................................11 The School System ................................................................................................11 Program History.................................................................................................................12 Origins....................................................................................................................12 Budget....................................................................................................................14 Planning and Implementation Obstacles................................................................14 Planning Obstacles and Solutions..............................................................14 Early Implementation Problems and Solutions..........................................16 Program Coordination............................................................................................18 The School Resource Officers ...........................................................................................18 Recruitment............................................................................................................19 Training..................................................................................................................20 Program Activities .............................................................................................................21 Law Enforcement...................................................................................................22 Teaching.................................................................................................................29 Mentoring...............................................................................................................31 Program Monitoring and Evaluation .................................................................................33 Monitoring .............................................................................................................33 Evidence of Program Effectiveness.......................................................................34 School Safety .............................................................................................35 Perceptions of Fear and Crime...................................................................36 Perceptions of Trust ...................................................................................38 Community Support...............................................................................................39 Large Established Site Two ............................................................................................41 Capsule Program Description ............................................................................................41 The Site ..............................................................................................................................42 The Police Department ..........................................................................................42 The School System ................................................................................................42 Program History.................................................................................................................43 Origins....................................................................................................................43 Budget....................................................................................................................44 Planning and Implementation Obstacles................................................................45 Abt Associates Inc. February 28, 2005 i 19 SRO Case Studies: Table of Contents This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Program Coordination............................................................................................46 Other School Safety Personnel ..........................................................................................47 The School Resource Officers ...........................................................................................47 Recruitment............................................................................................................48 Training..................................................................................................................49 Hours ....................................................................................................................50 Program Activities .............................................................................................................51 Law Enforcement...................................................................................................53 Dealing with Criminal Behavior................................................................53 Preventing Crime .......................................................................................55 Teaching.................................................................................................................59 Mentoring...............................................................................................................61 Types of Mentoring....................................................................................61 Long-Term Mentoring ...............................................................................63 Extracurricular Mentoring Activity ...........................................................63 Program Monitoring and Evaluation .................................................................................66 Monitoring .............................................................................................................67 Evidence of Program Effectiveness.......................................................................67 School Safety .............................................................................................68 Fear and Crime...........................................................................................68 Perceptions of Trust ...................................................................................69 Community Support...............................................................................................69 Large Established Site Three..........................................................................................73 Capsule Program Description ............................................................................................73