school resource officers

A new Indiana law will require all police who regularly work inside public schools to undergo basic school resource officer training — effectively closing a loophole that advocates have long wanted lawmakers to address. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed House Bill 1093 into law on Tuesday.

Indiana lawmakers are considering legislation that would require all police who regularly work inside public schools during regular hours to undergo basic school resource officer training.

Many officers who patrol Indianapolis Public Schools see themselves as educators and informal counselors, in addition to law enforcement officers. Most students, staff, and parents, however, see them strictly as police.

Students returning to class this month may be interacting with an unknown number of police officers in Indiana schools that haven’t been specially trained for the job. Chase Lyday, director of the Indiana School Resource Officers Association, is on a mission to change that.

Social unrest after high-profile cases of violence at the hands of police have spurred ongoing debates about the role of law enforcement in communities. Now, school districts across the country – including some in Indiana – are reevaluating their relationships with school-based officers.

More districts are hiring law enforcement to increase security in schools and can use state funding to do so, but lawmakers are debating what sort of training officers need before working around students.