Roles an Officer Plays in a School:

As a Police Officer

National research that was done amongst school resource officers shows that there is a “triad approach” to policing in the schools. The generally accepted roles are: law enforcement officer, law-related counselor, and law-related education teacher. The first role, law enforcement officer, comes naturally to most officers and is an easy transition. The roles as counselor and teacher tend to develop as the officer gains a closer relationship with the school. In this segment, topics one and two relate to the law enforcement role, topics three and four to the counselor role, and topic five to the teacher role.

One thing that we must not forget when working with the schools is that we are still police officers. This means that we still enforce any violations of the law that we see and uphold ourselves to our high professional standards. Laws and rules of the department are not bent or forgotten just because we are policing a unique environment. While there are other considerations that are made when working in a school, the same standards that you use in your job outside of the school still apply. Consideration should also be made when using discretion. Certain circumstances may be more efficiently dealt with through school channels, rather than legal channels.