School Resource Officers

School Resource Officers are community-based police officers with special training who help foster a safe and caring learning environment by prioritizing prevention and intervention over enforcement. 

Edmonton Catholic Schools currently has 14 SROs serving junior and senior high school students in 17 schools. 

The SRO program is a community-based, collaborative partnership between the Edmonton Police Service and Edmonton Catholic Schools.

What is the role of a School Resource Officer?

The primary responsibility of the School Resource Officer is to work in collaboration with school administration, the school’s multi-disciplinary team, and families to support student safety, growth, and well-being.

ECSD schools benefit from multi-disciplinary teams of which our SROs play an important part. SROs work with a variety of team members that exist within our schools, including: 

• Student Services Staff
• Grade Coordinators
• Emotional Behaviour Specialists
• Family School Liaison Workers
• Psychologists/Clinical Social Workers
• Mental Health Therapists 

School Resource Officers contribute to the safety and well-being of students in multiple ways:

• Positive Youth Engagement: School Resource Officers play an important role within the school setting, including organizing and participating in student-led or school activities, providing counselling, mediation and mentoring, and helping to connect students to school and community resources. School Resource Officers are available throughout the day, between classes, during lunch, and before-and-after school, connecting with students beyond the classroom. 
• School Safety: SROs work to ensure the safety of students and staff, daily, from planning and executing lockdown drills throughout the school year, to making themselves available for individual or group discussions with students or staff on the topics of school safety, security, and violence. While they are in constant communication with school administrations and staff, they are also the first line of crime prevention in school, helping to deter crime-related incidents, such as bullying, graffiti and vandalism, harassment or stalking, theft, or use of weapons or threats. School safety is not just a response to crisis situations. It is the daily impact of having caring adults who are responsive to a broad range of student and family concerns and how they can support them. 
• Resource: SROs offer additional resources to students and families. They can answer questions about law enforcement or assist them to get the resources that they need.
• Education: Working cooperatively with school administrators, staff, students, families, and the community, SROs proactively identify and address school concerns or problems through structured class presentations. These awareness and education sessions are created on a variety of topics (e.g. drug use, healthy relationships and safe driving) and are all tailored to fit the student population based on direct experience of the SRO within the school setting.
• Diversion: With their knowledge of the criminal justice system, SROs collaborate with school administration to devise alternative diversion measures for situations that otherwise may have involved the criminal justice system. These measures could include completing restorative work around the school, working out with the resource officer, or assisting teachers with extracurricular activities. 

Who is my School Resource Officer?

To locate a School Resource Officer, please contact the main office of your school. If your school does not have a dedicated SRO, report any incidents of concern to your school administration.