Greenwood Village SRO Program

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Greenwood Village SRO Program
A Customized Approach to Policing Schools and
Neighborhood Impact Areas in the Village
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Traditional SRO Program

• Structure based on guidelines established by the
  National Association of School Resource
  Officers.
• Focused on placing an officer, in a school, to
  address law enforcement, counseling and education
  issues.
• Officers were limited to the school and school
  grounds.

REACTIVE
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Traditional SRO Program

• Little positive impact on visibility, law
  enforcement, and traffic/pedestrian safety in
  areas that surround the school.
• No set standard for information sharing.
• No set standard for education programs.
• School Resource Officers often act independently
  from the department and the quality of service
  delivery was decided by the individual officer.

REACTIVE
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Greenwood Village SRO Program

• Operates on a developed strategic plan that
  outlines goals and achievable outcomes.
• Is dedicated to the schools along with the
  Neighborhood Impact Area that include the
  neighborhoods, parks, business and streets around
  the schools that are impacted by the schools
  presence.

PROACTIVE
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Characteristics of the Neighborhood Impact Area
Problem Solving
School Resource Officer
Safe Schools
Safe Neighborhoods
Safe Businesses
Safe Streets
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Greenwood Village SRO Program

• Established programs for education and school
  partnership.
• Set standards to guarantee positive information
  sharing between the School Resource Officers and
  other areas throughout the police department and
  the Village.
• School Resource Officers function as apart of
  the police patrol operations, in addition to its
  specialized duties.

PROACTIVE
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Greenwood Village SRO Program

• Assists in traffic and pedestrian safety
  throughout the schools and impact zones.
• Promotes the sharing of information between the
  police department and other agencies as it
  relates to school information.
• Reaches out to parent and community groups to
  foster shared information.
• Applies high visibility through the use of
  uniformed officers and marked units.

PROACTIVE
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Goals of the SRO Program

• Enforcement the law and reduce crime.
• Provide high visibility.
• Partnership with schools.
• Promote the sharing of information.
• Establish neighborhood impact areas.
• Provide a structured education program to the
  schools.
• Provide a flexible educational program to the
  schools.
• Out reach to parents and community groups.
• Partner in traffic and pedestrian safety.
• Increase departmental communication.

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Goal 1 Enforce the Law and Reduce Crime

• Under the supervision of the SRO Sergeant,
  officers are primarily responsible to detect and
  suppress reoccurring criminal acts such as gang
  activity and car prowling, develop and implement
  neighborhood crime-resistance strategies, arrest
  and assist in the prosecution of individuals
  suspected of repeated criminal acts. SROs offer
  gang education and awareness expertise to schools
  as well as community groups. Investigates gang
  crimes and develops strategies to reduce gang
  encroachment in our schools and neighborhood
  impact areas. Develops crime reduction
  strategies for emerging crime problems such as
  car break-ins. Addresses street level drug
  activity in surrounding neighborhoods.

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Goal 2 High Visibility

• Provide high police visibility in and around the
  schools. This is accomplished through the use of
  fully uniformed officers and marked patrol units.
  Aggressive foot and vehicle patrols add to this
  function.

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Goal 3 Partnership With Schools

• Ensure that the resources of the Village are
  available to the schools. This includes not just
  law enforcement operations, but all Village
  services. Its outcome is to foster a reciprocal
  approach from the schools and school district.

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Goal 4 Promote the Sharing of Information

• This goal focuses on the positive exchange of
  information between the schools and the School
  Resource Officer Unit. This area is governed by
  federal regulations, state statute and new shared
  information legislation.

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Goal 5 The Establishment of Neighborhood Impact
Areas

• The goal is to positively impact the residential
  areas, businesses, parks and streets in the
  Village that are impacted by the schools location
  and population. The objective is to increase
  police visibility, enforcement and decrease crime
  and neighborhood problems in areas surrounding
  the schools.

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Goal 6 Provide A Structured Education Program to
the Schools

• Provide the Drug Awareness Resistance Education
  Program to schools in the Village. This is a
  structured program that educates students on the
  effects of drug and alcohol abuse.

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Goal 7 Provide a Flexible Educational Program to
the Schools

• The School Resource Officers provide a menu of
  options to teachers in the Village. Classes are
  tailored to cover a variety of safety related
  topics. The classes are adaptable to lesson plans
  and can be taught on short notice.

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Goal 8 Out Reach to Parents and Community Groups

• Effective communication can often educate, quell
  rumors and garner support for the schools and
  police. This goal is structured to increase the
  time spent in communication with parents and
  resource groups that have an interest in the
  schools.

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Goal 9 Partner in Traffic and Pedestrian Safety

• The goal is to provide traffic and pedestrian
  safety in and around the schools. SROs assigned
  to this function are primarily responsible for
  traffic safety education, enforcement of traffic
  laws, and investigation of motor vehicle
  accidents. SROs are expected to discover,
  arrest, and assist in the prosecution of vehicle
  operators under the influence of alcohol or
  drugs. SROs are also responsible for
  neighborhood patrol duties and assignments as
  necessary or when directed. SROs are expected to
  work in cooperation with appropriate Village
  departments and others to accomplish the mission.
  

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Goal 10 Increase Departmental Communication

• Establish standard lines of communication between
  the SRO Unit and the rest of the police
  department. This facilitates the investigation of
  crimes that are often interrelated between the
  neighborhoods and the schools.

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Interesting Information

• The SRO Program consists of 5 sworn police
  officers 3 are assigned to Cherry Creek High
  School.
• Cherry Creek High School is Colorados largest
  public high school with an estimated population
  (Spring 2005) of 3780 students.
• Directly adjacent to the high school is Campus
  Middle School (population 1500) and Belleview
  Elementary School (population 950). Surrounding
  the campus includes two medium sized business
  complexes as well as residential areas both are
  impacted by the 1200 1500 students that leave
  throughout the day due to the school being an
  open campus.

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Interesting Information

• Greenwood Village School Resource Officers spend
  a large part of their time patrolling and
  responding to service calls in the neighborhood
  impact areas. The time spent in the impact areas
  can average between 30 and 60.

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Interesting Information

• The population of the Cherry Creek School Campus
  is approximately six thousand. The impact areas
  can add hundreds more to that figure. Two SROs
  are assigned daily (when possible) from 630am to
  430pm to provide police presence in the impact
  areas. Last year School Resource Officers
  handled over 1,200 calls for service north of
  East Belleview Avenue in addition to conducting
  education and community based policing
  activities.