Crime & Safety

Township Approves Expanded School Resource Officer Program

South Brunswick schools to have increased police presence throughout the school year through a program that expands existing security measures.

South Brunswick's schools will gain an added layer of security for the fall after the Township Council approved a resolution at a recent meeting to expand the existing school resource officer program.

The expanded duties of the SRO will include additional authority while working in conjunction with district staff on security functions at all South Brunswick schools. The position will not involve an additional hire, but will instead see a current officer promoted to sergeant.

The SRO will supervise other officers on school security duty, in addition to scheduling and overseeing school security and active shooter drills with the coordination of the police department; conducting school security assessments and recommending security upgrades; overseeing security for large events; facilitating traffic and parking enforcement; and overseeing and scheduling the school security unit.

"After the Newtown (Connecticut) incident, there's obviously been a big concern about security in our schools," said South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka earlier this month. "We have a great program (with the current SRO), a great relationship with (South Brunswick Superintendent Dr. Gary) McCartney, and the Board of Education. We meet monthly and have a lot of interaction. They're looking for ways to increase security, and what they've offered to do is pay for an SRO with additional supervisory authority."

The SRO program, which has been in place in the township for nearly 15 years, already involves a shared services agreement with the district and municipality for South Brunswick High School sporting events. As part of the expanded program, the district would pay 80 percent of the new sergeant's salary, with the cost of the sergeant for 180 school days given as $85,395.

The SRO will provide school staff with police consultation and training, formulate crime prevention programs for district schools, assist in formulating criminal justice programs for the schools, and work in conjunction with school staff to act as a liaison between students and social agencies for needed services.

The program mirrors steps districts have taken across the state in the wake of the Newtown murders. A similar agreement was approved in Bridgewater earlier this month for an additional school resource officer to cover that district's schools. 

Last month, Gov. Chris Christie, in answering a question about the Westfield Board of Education’s decision to hire a resource officer, said he was against having armed police officers in schools.

"I don't think that we need to have armed police officers in schools," Christie said, "and I don't think it's a great atmosphere for children to see an armed person walking around the school."

However, Hayducka said the program seeks to make children more comfortable interacting with police officers while improving school security. 

"We want to come up with a plan to have a more visible police presence (at district schools)," Hayducka said. "Every officer is already required to make a physical check of schools in their patrol area. We're going to up that during the school year."

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