School Resources Officers in Lincoln Public Schools

The 13 school resource officers assigned to Lincoln Public Schools come to their jobs with a wide variety of backgrounds.   They have degrees in philosophy, biology, public relations, secondary education and journalism, to name only a few. Two of them have master’s degrees. There’s a former teacher and a former youth minister. Two of them worked in the Lincoln Police Department’s Special Victims Unit; others worked in criminal investigations and crime scene investigations.  One thing they all have in common, however, is the ability to form meaningful connections with students.

“Safety is my number one concern when I get to school in the morning but if that was the only thing I was concerned about, I would have a very boring job,” said Officer Kathryn Meade, the SRO for Scott and Park middle schools. “It’s about building those relationships, building that trust with students. It’s incredible the kind of relationships you can build.”

Police officers have to complete a rigorous process to become an SRO, including 40 hours of training through the National Association of School Resource Officers and 32 hours of behavioral threat assessment training. But, beyond the official requirement, intangible qualities are essential to be an effective SRO: a passion to mentor students, a comfort with visiting and speaking in classrooms, the ability to form meaningful relationships.

To learn more about the SROs that work in Lincoln Public Schools, please review the history of SROs and the bios of the current SROs.  For a more in depth look at the work of SROs, see School Resource Officer Program Information on the Safe and Successful Kids Interlocal Board website.

Required Parental Notices regarding the LPS/LPD School Resource Officer Program

LPS and LPD partnering to provide school resource officers in high schools and middle schools, the following information may be helpful to parents and students.

  • LPD policies that addresses when a parent or guardian will be notified or present if a student is subjected to questioning or interrogation by an SRO and under what circumstances students shall be advised of constitutional rights prior to being questioned or interrogated by SROs, along with any LPS policies about school resource officers or other non-school personnel interviewing students on campus can be found at these links: LPD – General Orders and LPS – Policy 5502 / LPS – Regulation 5502.1
  • LPS policies on determining the type or category of student conduct or actions that will be resolved as a disciplinary matter by a school official and not subject to referral to law enforcement and the type of student conduct or actions that will be referred to law enforcement for prosecution as required by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 79-262 can be found at this LINK – LPS Regulation 5240.8..
  • LPDs process for accepting complaints, compliments, questions and suggestions regarding school resource officers can be found at this LINK – LPD – Commend/Complaint.