School Resource Officer Program Provides Long Term Benefits to Owasso

Imagine for a moment, a community that has one of the lowest juvenile crime rates in the country and even a lower incidence of youth drug/alcohol related issues. The resulting benefits to that community range from cost saving to life saving. Over the years, Owasso has witnessed several initiatives that have focused on the prevention of youth crime and drug use.  Education programs such as “DARE,” “Operation Aware,” and “Just Say No” are examples of these efforts.  While there has been progress, conventional wisdom seems to have finally recognized that juvenile crime, as well as other law enforcement issues can only be successfully addressed when citizens, police, and public officials form an effective and genuine partnership to overcome and defeat crime at all levels. Community Policing is the term given to the concept of fighting crime by engaging citizens within the community and neighborhood as law enforcement partners.  Community Policing has demonstrated proven effectiveness when police officers are fully engaged with residents, working together at the “beat” level to prevent crime.

The Community Policing concept is producing great results in communities that have implemented its philosophy in schools through the use of School Resource Officers (SRO’s). This concept places fully certified police officers in schools, walking the halls and school grounds, becoming acquainted with students, and like the “beat” officers of the past, getting to know what and who may bear watching.  But, it is the development of personal relationships that has the biggest and best long-term impact on young people. When a young man or woman begins to see a police officer as their protector, and friend, they begin to understand that there is mutual trust between those who enforce the law and those who benefit from that enforcement. The result of this mutual understanding is often a decrease in crime. That relationship also allows the police officer to see our youth in a different light as they begin to see the promise and potential our children hold for our future.

Veteran Officers who have walked the SRO “beat” find themselves refreshed and energized by the good they see in the individual students they encounter. All the while, both groups are building a respect and trust that will not only be felt now, but for years to come, as the students grow into responsible adults and become committed partners in the fight against crime.

Obviously, a program such as this must be implemented and funded as a part of a comprehensive strategy to build and maintain a safe city.  The Owasso Police Department’s strategic plan recognizes community policing as an imperative and the SRO initiative as a vital component of that strategy.  The Owasso Police Department is committed to the placement of law enforcement officers inside our public school system on a full-time basis because we believe the best plan to fight juvenile crime and drug problems is to build relationships and partnerships with the students.

The city’s goal is to improve the lives and futures of the young people in Owasso.  In order to transition from imagining a community where juvenile crime is the lowest in the country to planning for the ideal, the City is committed to expanding the number of SRO’s and increasing the allocation of resources.  Placing real officers in schools as a strategy to build the idea of community policing and engaging students as partners in these efforts will, in the long run, be significantly more effective and cost less than putting young adults in prison for the remainder of their lives.