Photo by Mike Wolanin | The Republic A Columbus Police Department squad vehicle with new updated vehicle wrap.
The Board of Public Works and Safety on Tuesday approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and BCSC outlining terms and conditions for CPD’s contribution to the corporation’s school resource officer (SRO) program.
CPD Deputy Chief Matt Martindale came before the board to give an overview of changes between the previous agreement and the new one, set to commence in January and run through December of 2026. It’s considered “an evergreen term,” meaning the agreement will automatically be renewed for another two years “unless objected to by either party” according to the agreement.
“Our commitment to the safety of our schools and our community hasn’t changed, it’s as high as always,” Martindale said. “The changes we really only needed to formalize and get us all on the same page as far as expectations to ensure even coverage and communication between all the parties involved.”
SROS are full-time employees of CPD and their salary and benefits will be paid for by the city, which BCSC then reimburses, according to a copy of the agreement.
CPD will assign at least four officers for assignment who are chosen by the department after input from BCSC personnel, as is currently the case.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office provides SROs to BCSC as well, and the two groups engage in active training together, Mayor Mary Ferdon said.
“Obviously we’d like to see more SROs in the future, but the value that we see is that the SROs in this community are trained by city police, trained by the sheriff’s department,” Mayor Ferdon said. “And so when something happens they’ve got that relationship built in.”
CPD provides any necessary training or certifications for their SROs. For example, SROS are to obtain membership or certification through a national association like the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO).
The agreement lists 26 duties of an SRO, including enhancing the physical safety and security of the schools, building relationship with students to “improve youth-police relations” and assist in identifying at-risk students and provide support or referrals for social services.
“It used to be that any police officer could sub in,” Martindale told board members of how the role has changed. “Just recently, they updated the law in Indiana where you had to have special certification through the SRO association that focuses on the differences between policing the population at large and meshing in the schools.”
Martindale was referring to House Bill 1093, passed in 2022, that made it so police who regulary work inside public schools undergo basic SRO training. The bill also required school corporations to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the law enforcement agency that employs their SROs.
One change from last year’s agreement is that SROs will now be available during professional development days. Another is that CPD didn’t commit to 100% always backfilling when one SRO is out, but did include language in the agreement that “(CPD) shall provide a replacement officer, whenever possible.”
During an update on how BCSC is reaching goals of the 2020 operating referendum during a school board meeting earlier this week, SRO Julie Q. Smith talked a bit what she does day-to-day.
SROs serve three major functions, Smith said: law enforcement officer, public safety educator, and informal counselor.
Some people may be surprised to know that SROs spend most of their time in the role of informal counselor, according to Smith.
“We do spend a lot of time engaging our students, building relationships— that hallway time that we get with them in the mornings and in the cafeteria, the time that we get with them during the day— it’s invaluable to what we do,” Smith told school board members on Monday night. “Here’s the major reason why: when we’re building those relationships, we’re also building trust, and when you build that trust you have a safer school community.”
Smith said they maintain regular communication with CPD’s and the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office’s patrol divisions regularly “to make sure that we’re supporting our students when they’ve been involved in traumatic incidents outside of schools, or if there’s just something that we can support them on.”
“That collaboration, I would say, is unique to BCSC and unique to Columbus, Indiana.”
