Bucks County Sheriff to provide school resource officer to Central Bucks West
The Bucks County Sheriff's Department will provide a school resource officer to Central Bucks School District to be stationed at Central Bucks West High School.
It's the first time a county officer will serve in a Bucks County school in the role, but the sheriff said Friday he could accommodate requests from other districts who may not be able to use municipal officers, who normally fill the role.
Central Bucks South already has a resource officer who is a member of the Warrington Township Police Department and Central Bucks East is working with the Buckingham Police Dept. to provide a resource officer. But the Central Bucks Regional Police Department needs to hire more police officers and couldn't provide one for West, officials said.
The police commission had voted against providing the officer for CB West and outlined its reasons in a letter to the school board June 30, stating that in addition to the staffing shortage, it didn't know whether the school board wanted and would continue to fund an SRO and whether parents in the community wanted one at CB West.
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Kevin Spencer, Central Bucks School District director of operations, wrote back, in a letter read by School Board President Dana Hunter at a July 27 Central Bucks Regional Police Commission meeting, that the district was "severely disappointed" by the commission's response.
Republican Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran and Democratic County Commissioner Diane Ellis Marseglia worked out a deal with the school district for the county Sheriff's Department to hire a new resource officer to be stationed at CB West when school opens. The school district will pick up the tab for the officer's salary, benefits, training, overtime and any pay increases in line with the other Sheriff Department officers.
As the discussion about a school resource officer for Central Bucks West took place, Harran said a state law enacted in 1949 and amended in 2019 allows school districts to have school security or school police officers in their schools, which are district employees, or school resource officers (SROs), which are employees of the local police department or sheriff's department. There are seven SROs currently in Bucks County, including the three in Central Bucks, as well as in the Bensalem, Bristol Borough, Neshaminy and Quakertown school districts.
Brian Wallace, chair of the Central Bucks Regional Police Commission, said Thursday morning that the police department "was not in the position to provide that service" since it needs to hire more police for regular municipal duties and is trying to rebuild the department.
"The school district was welcome," he said to find another police (source)" for CB West.
Harran said that if Central Bucks West decided to pull out of the program, it would give six months notice, would continue to pay for the officer's employment until the sheriff's department could reabsorb the officer's contract when another sheriff's deputy would leave or retire.
The SRO to be hired for CB West will be selected soon and complete training to be able to start work when school reopens, Harran said.
Harran said his office would be able to help other districts if they need resource officers.
"They would have to pay for it and I would be able to fill it," Harran said in a phone interview Thursday. "I would certainly consider it."
Reporter Michele Haddon contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County Sheriff to provide CB West with school resource officer
