Gun Incidents Prompt Olympia Schools to Bring Back SROs
The move to reinstate SROs was prompted by two separate incidents involving students who brought guns to Capital High School.
Photo: Joaquin Corbalan, Adobe Stock
Olympia, Washington — School resource officers (SROs) will once again be patrolling Olympia school campuses. The decision to bring back SROs was made last week by board members with the Olympia School District after Capital High School experienced two gun scares in only four days.
In the first week of the 2023-2024 school year, two students were arrested at Capital High for bringing guns on campus, reports The Olympian. A 17-year-old was arrested after a BB gun in the style of a handgun was found in a toilet. Additionally, a 15-year-old student was arrested the first day of school for bringing a loaded handgun on campus. Both students were expelled.
In response to both incidents, the school board held an emergency meeting last week. After hours of deliberation, the board decided to reinstate the SROs, reports King5.
Superintendent Patrick Murphy and School Board President Darcy Huffman supported the reinstatement, saying their district’s administrators and counseling teams aren’t equipped to handle the increasing number of situations happening on school campuses.
The district has been without SROs since 2020, reports Fox13Seattle.
Murphy said the Olympia Police Department (OPD) is working to have police officers on campus in the next few weeks before the SRO program gets up to speed. Like other law enforcement agencies, OPD is experiencing staffing challenges, but its leaders said the department should be able to provide the SROs.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders said the SROs go through 40 hours of additional training covering case law and search and seizure on K-12 campuses.
The reinstatement of SROs received a mixed reaction from students, parents and the public, with several speaking out against the new policy.
If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
Related Content
Leading in Turbulent Times: Effective Campus Public Safety Leadership for the 21st Century
This new webcast will discuss how campus public safety leaders can effectively incorporate Clery Act, Title IX, customer service, “helicopter” parents, emergency notification, town-gown relationships, brand management, Greek Life, student recruitment, faculty, and more into their roles and develop the necessary skills to successfully lead their departments. Register today to attend this free webcast!
