What is a School Resource Officer?

First and foremost, a School Resource Officer (SRO) is a law enforcement officer. Each SRO provides a uniformed presence on their school campus. They are prepared and trained to protect the students and faculty from intruders, conduct criminal investigations and patrol their beat (the school). The SRO advises the school administration on safety and security matters as well as lending their expertise in law-related issues. Our SRO’s also provide security for after-school events for their assigned schools.

Secondly, SRO’s are counselors. Each SRO has gained a wealth of information over his or her career, which is shared with the students, their parents and the school’s staff. They offer advice in law-related matters as well as resources for virtually any need a person might have. Each school and individual student has different needs, but the SRO is there to help any way necessary.

Thirdly, SRO educates. Each School Resource Officer conducts classroom presentations on a variety of subjects including: law related education, crime and violence prevention, safety, and alcohol and drug prevention. The deputies who are assigned as School Resource Officers are passionately invested in their schools and proud to be serving the families of Escambia County.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office SRO program has a rich history dating back to 1986. The ECSO-SRO program was recently recognized by the Florida Attorney’s Office as having the outstanding individual officer and program for the state of Florida in 2016.

Currently, there are 11 deputies assigned to the SRO program under the supervision of one Sergeant and one Lieutenant. The ECSO-SRO program has these deputies assigned to five high schools and seven middle schools throughout the county.