Wake Sheriff calls for complete overhaul of School Resource Officer program
WAKE COUNTY, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A strongly worded letter from Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison is calling for an overhaul of the county's School Resource Officer program.
The issue is getting attention after cell phone video showing a Rolesville police officer slamming a high school student to the ground.
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In his letter, Harrison called the current SRO situation "a patchwork public safety system set up for failure."
Among other things, he's calling for the creation of a public safety department under the authority of the Wake County Public School System.
"They should have a police department, a Wake County Public School Police Department. That's what they do, is Wake County Schools," Harrison explained. "Just like Capitol Police, they look after the state buildings and so forth. Just like the city of Garner, those police officers look after the city of Garner. Same thing in Cary. And with 185,000 people, they need their own police department."
Harrison also says a centralized department will allow for a more specialized SRO training program and better relationships between officers and students.
