Tennessee to Place School Resource Officers in Every School, Perform Security Assessments

Tennessee to Place School Resource Officers in Every School Perform Security Assessments

The governor of Tennessee recently approved a $40 million grant to put SROs in every school in the state. In addition, the state will be assessing the school security measures that are already in place.

  • By Kaitlyn DeHaven
  • August 05, 2019

Gov. Bill Lee recently approved a $40 million grant to put school resource officers into every Tennessee school, a luxury the school did not have last year.

Brice Allen, who is with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said that SROs are more than just security for students.

“They’re a mentor,” Allen said. “They’re security and they’re a role model for students.”

In addition to creating room in the budget for SROs, the state will be assessing the security measures schools have in place as well.

“We looked at access management in the schools. We looked at lighting in the schools, locks. We looked at the traffic systems in and out of the schools, security systems," Allen said.

The assessments will be performed throughout the school year, and Homeland Security officials are hopeful that the changes will slow or stop threats to campuses.

Some of the issues state officials have already found include surveillance and video control improvements, better documentation for security procedures and practicing more security drills.

These security improvements will be in addition to the legislation that was signed by Lee in July that will help districts in Tennessee establish threat assessment teams.

About the Author

Kaitlyn DeHaven is the Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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