Our Mission
The Lorain County Sheriff’s School Resource Officer (SRO) Program places a full-time uniformed Deputy in schools with the goal of creating and maintaining a safe, secure, and orderly learning environments for students, teachers and staff. The program reflects the desire of our community to ensure that schools are safe, secure and orderly. SROs represent a proactive strategy designed to bring prevention and intervention into the schools.
Throughout the United States each year over 200,000 violent crimes occur on school property and 150,000 students stay home because they are sick of violence and afraid they might be stabbed, shot or beaten. Each day in the U.S. 60 teachers are assaulted and 160 threatened. It is estimated that between 100,000 and 135,000 guns are brought to school each day. During the 1992-1993 school year, 91% of urban schools, 81% of suburban schools, and 69% of rural schools identified student vs. student assaults as the leading school related violent act.
Although most statistics are nationwide, we can see the trend. An SRO, if utilized correctly, should be the first line of defense against gangs, drugs, alcohol, and school violence. The Supreme Court recognized the effects that gangs and drugs have in our schools and have ruled that “gangs and drugs” are inherently dangerous. They have also stated that every student in the United States has the right to feel safe while attending school.
The SRO program provides an increased level of effective interaction between the Sheriff’s Office, students, school officials and parents. This partnership between the Sheriff’s Office and School System facilitates the rapid resolution of minor problems before they become big problems.
By being on campus, SROs can prevent problems from happening. When problems do arise, they can intervene quickly, address what is taking place and intervene appropriately. They contribute to safe school planning efforts and offer their schools a resource to turn to when emergencies occur. Ultimately, the officers primary focus is working with the school administration to maintain a safer learning environment.
The Sheriff’s Office currently has one Deputy assigned as School Resource Officer during the school year.
Serving the students and staff at Lorain County Joint Vocational School is Deputy Pluta.
For more information about the School Resource Officer Program please call Capt. Daniel Ashdown at the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office at 440.329-3788. To speak with Deputy Walker or Deputy Pozega, please call the Lorain County Joint Vocational School at 440.774-1051