Each school district, the school board and the school
administration, will have to decide whether or not to have a Resource Officer
in their school. It will be their
decision on how to employ, train and pay that officer. This could be accomplished through the State
Police, a local police force or through the Sheriff’s Office. There also would
need to be a dialog and agreement made between the district and the affected
law enforcement agency. In the case of
the Sheriff’s Office, the county legislature would have to approve the creation
of that position and integrate it into the Office of Sheriff. If a school
district decides to employ an SRO and the county legislature approves that
hiring and training by the sheriff’s office, there would be several other issues
to consider, including funding, jurisdiction, union and liability issues, along
with finding and training qualified individuals.
I would suggest that all of our residents contact their
local school board along with the legislators in their district to voice their
opinion on this important issue. In the
end it will be my duty, as your sheriff, to abide by whatever decision is made
by the districts and the legislators. As always, I encourage anyone with questions
on any issue concerning the Sheriff’s Office to contact me at 585-268-9204 or whitneyrl@alleganyco.com.
Rick Whitney
Allegany County Sheriff
