ELGIN — Elgin Public Schools will have two school resource officers for the 2023-24 academic year.
The Elgin City Council voted unanimously July 26 to approve a contract between the city and the school district, which calls for the city to provide another SRO for the district. Under the contract, the city will assign a full-time law enforcement officer, who will be certified by the state’s Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, to the school district.
“What this does is, it moves us from having one SRO at a 75/25 split to two SROs at a 50/50 split,” said Mayor JJ Francais, referring to a cost-sharing arrangement between the city and the school district.
He said the city could have funded three SROs and split the cost 50/50 with the school district, but city and school officials decided to use the money to hire one outstanding officer instead.
Now that the council has approved a contract with the school district, the Elgin police chief will hire an officer to fill the position, subject to council approval. The council will decide whether to
approve the hire at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
The SRO program’s daily operations and administrative control will be a joint effort of Elgin’s mayor and the school superintendent, but the city will be responsible for the officer’s conduct, according to the contract. The officer will be employed by the city and respond to the Elgin Police Department’s command.
The officer’s primary job is to ensure the safety of students and staff and provide campus security, according to the contract. The officer will assist with the following tasks:
• Limiting access to school grounds to authorized people.
• Providing police protection of school property, staff and students.
• Investigating criminal acts on school grounds.
• Serving as a liaison between the school, the police department, juvenile officials, probation officials, courts and other juvenile justice agencies.
The officer will be available to school staff as a resource for information on topics where he or she has expertise due to their law enforcement training, according to the contract. Additionally, the officer will serve as a highly visible deterrent of crime on and around school property.