School Resource Officers

The Medford Township Police believes that children are our greatest asset and our greatest challenge. If you want to look into the future all you have to do is stop and see how we treat our children today. The Medford Township police remains committed to developing relationship between the police and the children as we help to prepare them to be responsible adolescents and adults. The School Resource Officer Unit is a vital tool to help us prepare the children of today for the challenges that lie ahead.

Nationally, School Resource Officer (SRO) programs have been in schools since the 1960's. Although the placement of law enforcement officers in schools has grown tremendously over the past decade, the move to do so appears to have increased dramatically following the school shootings of the late 1990s.

The Medford Township Police Department currently has 4 full-time School Resource Officers assigned to educational facilities in the Township. Medford Township assigned the first full-time officer to a school under a US Department of Justice Grant in 1996. In 1998 two additional officers were added to the unit through additional grant funding and after the Columbine High School tragedy, the fourth officer was added to the unit.

Current funding for the 3 High School SRO’s is provided through a partnership grant with the Lenape Regional High School District.

Over the years, our SRO’s have been both leaders in this agency, the schools and the community and touched the lives of countless children.