Quote:
Originally Posted by dobbles
I know we certainly don't have all the facts, but so far it seems having an armed officer on campus is totally useless. To me, that's a scary thing to learn.
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Ding, ding, ding! As explained earlier, SROs are not like a uniformed officer. In many parts of the country they don't even have the same training as an officer, which is why they may have a different uniform so as to not make that expectation that they can engage in full duties. The role of the SRO is act as a deterrent to petty crimes, drug use and trafficking, and bullying on campuses. They are not going to engage in many traditional patrol officer activities, because they are not equipped or prepared for those events. They are just above a paid security guard in many ways.
As to another question from earlier, Sheriffs are the ultimate law enforcement entity in a county. The Sheriff is more often than not an elected individual with no requirement for law enforcement experience. All agencies are technical subservient to the Sheriff. Having said that, in municipalities where a law enforcement agency is established, that agency holds the function of enforcing the law while the Sheriff holds responsibility over the traffic control of state roads, accident investigations on state roads, corrections and transportation of prisoners, county courthouse security, court document delivery/service, and animal control/enforcement. In larger municipalities where there are unincorporated county islands, the Sheriff assumes all law enforcement activities, sometimes making these pockets the wild west. It should be noted that in municipalities where there is a dedicated law enforcement component, there can exist a great deal of animosity toward the Sheriff's department and a lack of cooperation because of jurisdictional issues. The Sheriff's department is considered the ultimate law enforcement authority, but is seldom considered the ultimate authority on law enforcement or the associated activities. It is an interesting contradiction, but one that manages to exist in a system where brotherhood is the most important factor to those who serve.