The Louisville Metro Police Department's School Resource Officer (SRO) Program, implemented in the winter of 2003, is part of LMPD's focus on better serving the city through Community Oriented Policing. Specially trained officers and deputies are assigned to 18 high/middle schools within the Jefferson County Public School District.

A school resource officer fills many different roles within his or her school:

• The SRO is a vital member of the school's administrative team, helping to solve problems within the school community.
• The SRO is an educational resource for students, teachers, administrators and parents.
• The SRO provides students with a positive role model and a balanced view of law enforcement.
• The SRO is a proactive law enforcement officer dealing with law related issued on and off of campus.

When developing this program, the LMPD adopted the "triad" approach. This concept has been widely accepted as the model for school based officers. The triad concept divides the SRO's responsibilities into three areas: teacher, counselor and law enforcement. Louisville has expanded on this concept to include mentoring as the central focus of everything the SRO does.

Mentoring
Mentoring is the central focus of the program. SROs have the opportunity to form lasting impressions on young people. To help students succeed, the SRO provides guidance, tutoring and coaching to all students.

Law Enforcement Officer
Any law related issue that arises on campus is the SRO's responsibility. In many ways, his/her school is no different than any other patrol beat. Whether it is child abuse, disorderly conduct, theft or some type of assault, the SRO is there to handle it quickly and professionally. As a Community Police Officer, the SRO is charged with proactively addressing the crimes that occur on campus, both through enforcement and education. Every school is different, so each SRO must tailor his/her method of operation to both the specific problem and the school.

Teacher/Trainer
The SRO is available as a guest speaker or as a resource to nearly every classroom within the school.

Counselor
The SRO is a resource for faculty, staff, parents and students while performing informal counseling and/or lending advice. These officers have received extensive training regarding programs and services available to handle problems and conflicts. Getting the right kind of help to those that need it is one of the SRO's highest priorities.