U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

Leahy Announces $590,000 For School Security Officers
In Windham, Orange And Franklin Counties

(WEDNESDAY, Sept. 8) – Three Vermont counties will be able to make their schools safer by installing police officers, using $590,000 in federal grants announced Wednesday by Senator Patrick Leahy.  

Leahy said local departments and law enforcement agencies in Windham, Orange and Franklin Counties have each been awarded COPS in Schools grants through the Department of Justice Office of Community Policing Services (COPS).  He said these grants will be used to hire new School Resource Officers (SROs) -- trained law enforcement officers who teach crime prevention, assist troubled students, and foster respect between students and law enforcement.   

"There is everything to gain through these partnerships,” said Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Department of Justice and all federal law enforcement programs.  “These officers provide an invaluable service to our schools, families, communities and students by deterring drug and gang activity and by showing young people at an early point in their lives that officers of the law are caring and supportive members of the community.”    

In Windham County, the Windham County Sheriff’s Department will receive $375,000 to fund three full-time officers in schools, and the Bellows Falls Village Corporation has been awarded $47,692 to fund one part-time officer.  In Franklin County, the St. Albans Police Department was awarded $125,000 to fund one full-time office.  And in Orange County, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was awarded $43,662 to fund one part-time officer.  The departments assign the officers to the schools in their regions.     

The grants were awarded under the COPS in Schools program, which funds the hiring of community policing officers to work in schools. The grants fund the salary and benefits of each new officer over three years.  The COPS in Schools program also provides school safety training for the officer and for an administrator from the school to which the officer will be assigned. Since 1994, Vermont has received $3,490,357 in CIS grants to add 31 SROs to improve safety for students, teachers and administrators in primary and secondary schools throughout Vermont. 

The primary role of the officers is to safeguard students by providing a law enforcement presence on campus, though in many cases these officers also provide unique duties specific to the needs of the school.  Many of these officers also teach crime prevention and substance abuse classes, serve as coaches, monitor and counsel troubled students, and ultimately build respect and understanding between the law enforcement and student communities.

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