SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER

The Cape Girardeau Police Department’s first School Resource Officer (SRO) was appointed to work at the high school in August 1997.  In 1999, a second SRO was added.  This SRO works in the Junior High and Middle Schools.  The D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer also assists as an SRO in the Elementary Schools, Middle Schools and Junior High.  Although the SRO program was new to the City of Cape Girardeau, it is a program that has been in existence since the early 1950’s in many parts of the country.

The purpose of the School Resource Officer Program is to assign specially trained officers to the schools to provide a forum through which students, parents, faculty and law enforcement officers can become better acquainted and, as a result, establish mutual respect for one another.

Specifically, the School Resource Officer is involved in such activities as conducting classroom presentations, coordinating group discussions with students in areas of mutual concern, patrolling school premises and surrounding areas to reduce loitering and prevent criminal activities, and to stimulate student involvement in crime prevention programs.

Corporal Alvin Spencer and Patrolman Adam Glueck currently serve as our School Resource Officers in the public schools.