Law enforcement intervention and school resource officers

While a multidisciplinary BTAM team can likely handle most reported incidents and concerning behaviors with school-based or community resources, some situations may necessitate law enforcement intervention due to the severity of the concern.

Reports involving weapons and/or imminent/immediate safety risks (e.g., presence of a weapon, threats of serious violence) should be immediately relayed to local law enforcement.

„ Teams are encouraged to consider when they will request local law enforcement support to assist with assessing or gathering information and establish relevant guidelines for that process.

Considerations may include safety concerns for students or family members, student health and wellness, existing district policies and resources, and actions beyond the legal scope of the district.

Depending on the situation, local law enforcement may support the team’s assessment of the concerning behavior by partnering with a social worker to conduct a welfare check at the student’s home, speaking with a student’s parent or guardian, checking for the presence of weapons and safe storage in the home, or other law enforcement actions which help the team better understand the context surrounding the student’s concerning behaviors and the risk of harm the student may pose to themselves or others.

While not every campus will have a school resource officer, all schools can develop positive, proactive relationships with local law enforcement agencies and personnel who may be asked to respond when highly concerning, threatening, or violent behavior emerges.

Some schools proactively build partnerships by encouraging officers to coteach classes, serve as coaches or assistant coaches of sports teams, and/or work with parents and teachers at after-school events.

When assigning a dedicated school resource officer is not possible, some local law enforcement agencies have encouraged officers to “adopt a school” and regularly visit the school to greet and become familiar with students and teachers, eat lunch on

Like faculty, staff, and administrators, school resource officers and local law enforcement need training to increase their awareness of the school’s behavioral threat assessment and management process and their role in it.

Moreover, training on additional topics, such as child development, conflict resolution, bullying prevention, students with disabilities, unintentional assumptions of student backgrounds, ACEs and trauma, mental health first aid, and specific schoolwide programs and practices can better position all officers to promote positive school climates and support the school’s Tier 1 prevention efforts.