More ‘resource officers’ in Avoyelles schools not likely

Maintaining a safe environment in the schools is a major responsibility of the Avoyelles School Board. School resource officers -- certified law enforcement officers with additional training -- are recognized as a good way to improve security.

There are armed, uniformed Avoyelles Sheriff’s Office deputies in the three traditional high schools. LaSAS, a charter school within the district, opted not to have an officer.

However, when School Board member Aimee Dupuy asked that the board consider placing resource officers in the elementary schools, she was met with two pieces of bad news as to why it couldn’t happen.

APSO Chief Deputy Maj. Steve Martel said a resource officer must be POST certified to carry a firearm and have two years of additional training in how to relate to students and school employees.

He said it would be difficult for APSO to find six or seven certified deputies to fill the additional resource officer positions. If the individuals could be hired, it would be at least two years before they could start work as a school resource officer.

‘VETTING PROCESS’

“Not everyone who wears a badge and carries a gun is a police officer,” Martel said. “If other departments won’t hire them, why would we want to put them in a school with our children? There’s a vetting process involved.”

At this time, one of the high school resource officer positions is vacant.

Another concern is the cost of a resource officer.

The School Board pays the Sheriff’s Office $25,000 per officer -- or $75,000 for three officers.

That only covers a portion of the $121,000 total cost, Martel said.

APSO’S COSTS

APSO pays about $45,000 a year for the officers’ benefits, uniforms, patrol car mileage, etc.

Martel said the cost for salaries and benefits for 10 resource officers would be about $400,000, with the APSO’s share about $150,000 and the school district’s at $250,000.

“That does not include the cost of additional vehicles,” Martel said. He said the department had enough “spare” vehicles in its fleet to cover the three high school SROs, but not enough to cover seven more.

If APSO had to lease or purchase those vehicles, that would add at least $200,000 a year to support the resource officer program, Martel said.

The department cannot afford that additional expense.

“About 53 percent of our revenue comes from Corrections,” he said, noting that revenue has been cut due to state efforts to reduce the number of inmates in parish jails.

It was suggested that the three deputies at the high schools split their time and also cover nearby elementary schools.

“If you do that, you don’t have a resource officer, you have a security guard,” Martel responded.

“Having a resource officer is about building a relationship between the officer and the students, faculty and staff in a school. You can’t have that if he is only in a school for part of the day.”