James Maloney: “In a year when we have seen very tragic events in a number of schools in our Nation, we have today the opportunity to…”

“In a year when we have seen very tragic events in a number of schools in our Nation, we have today the opportunity to build on the success of the relatively new Cops in Schools Program by approving an amendment to fund a clearinghouse administered by the Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services, COPS, to facilitate information-sharing between communities nationwide on existing school resource officer training programs and models of how to establish such a program locally. As many of my colleagues know, school resource officers are especially designated and trained law enforcement officers who are placed in schools to act as mediators, educators, and violence prevention and role models for students. Last year, we passed legislation to enable localities to hire school resource officers and form partnerships between law enforcement and education officials. This initiative was later expanded to become the Cops in Schools Grant Program under the COPS program of the Department of Justice. SROs represent a proactive approach to youth violence focusing on the prevention of juvenile crime rather than a reactive approach.”