An examination of school resource officers' self-perception of role, student encounters and duties

As the rates of school shootings and school violence rise, the effectiveness of school resource officers (SROs) has come into question. As of now, there is no nationwide standard for the role and duties of school resource officers. Therefore, these differ from state to state and even school district to school district. One variable that had yet to be examined was the impact that location has on the roles of school resource officers. From this, three different school resource officer roles were identified: teaching-based role, community-based role, and law enforcement-based role. To determine the relationship between these variables, an online self-report study of school resource officers was conducted. Seventy-eight school resource officers answered questions regarding their perception of their role, their duties, and the interactions they have with students. Three regression models were run on the results, each examining a different role. The results from this survey showed that there is no relationship between location and role of SRO. The results also found that female school resource officers are more likely to take on a teaching-based role than males. This study emphasizes the need for a nationwide standard for the role and duties of school resource officers, and further examination of the relationship between location and roles of SROs.