Kentucky's SRO, Kenny Collins
 Named National SRO of the Year

Kentucky statutes define a SRO as a sworn law enforcement officer who has specialized training to work with youth at a school site. Due to the availability of federal grants through the U. S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing program, the number of officers in Kentucky has increased significantly. There are approximately 230 SRO's in over half of Kentucky's counties. A biannual survey of the officers provides important demographic information about the officers and the duties they perform.

The Center sponsors an annual statewide conference for SROs, building on the success of the first one held in 2000. The two-day meeting includes workshops that address issues that are important to the officers and provides an opportunity for officers to share ideas and learn about promising and effective practices. Such as the success of Owensboro's SRO program in combination with the Youth Crime Watch. The Kentucky Center for School Safety has produced a video which provides schools advice about establishing an SRO program. The video, which includes interviews with superintendents, principals, teachers, students and law enforcement personnel, can be obtained at no cost by calling the Center’s toll free number.

Kentucky Revised Statute 158.441 requires that the local law enforcement agency and schools have a written contract. A model SRO contract has been developed and can be modified to meet the needs of individual districts and agencies. You may obtain a copy of this template from KCSS. The Center also features model SRO programs across the state that can provide important advice and information for new or fledgling program. The Center has developed a set of standards for SRO programs which can be used to assess the quality of the programs.

In response to a statutory requirement that SROs receive specialized training, the Department of Criminal Justice Training offered the first course designed specifically for SROs in 2000. A 32-hour basic course was provided the first year and an advanced course was added in 2001. The schedule of courses is available on an annual basis. In addition, the National Association of School Resource Officers provides training and sponsors an annual conference.

In 2002, SROs voted to form a statewide association, and created the Kentucky Association of School Resource Officers (KYASRO) with a Board of Directors consisting of fifteen members to direct that organization.