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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]40 middle schools, 27 high schools, 5 special schools. Need 1-2 SROs in each of these schools (maybe not the "special schools"?).

That is 67schools x 2SROs = 134. Where are you going to find that many SROs?

Here's Erich on 'the shortage of officers' :
"We also are making it a priority to add more police officers on the street. We now have a recruitment firm in place to attract more quality candidates. We are also working on other measures to take uniformed officers out of desk jobs and put them on patrol. We increased pay for police officers to make their salaries competitive in the region, and we provided $20,000 signing bonuses to attract more talented candidates to Montgomery County. We are asking people to risk their lives, so we could not keep them at the bottom of the pay scale for our area.

We also will review dropping the college degree requirement and integrating education requirements into training. Our college degree requirement is more than most jurisdictions and does not necessarily provide added value. We are changing County regulations to allow us to rehire former public safety employees. And we are pushing to drop State requirements for public safety applicants that prohibit hiring a person who admits to past marijuana use in the previous year, even though it is now legal in the State.

I want to send a clear signal that we have a changing department that wants to encourage people to build their public safety careers here. We are focused on community policing, and adding more officers is critical to fulfilling that goal and reducing crime. [b]The shortage of officers is the biggest challenge we face[/b]. I went on a ride-along a couple of months ago, and one thing that was apparent was that the officers seemed to go from one call to another, which did not afford much time to simply be present and patrol. We have work to do, but we are moving forward with plans to improve public safety and help police officers do their jobs safely.

If you know someone you think would be a good fit with MCPD, check out this website to learn more about the police cadet program, becoming an officer candidate or filling another vital role as a public safety emergency communications specialist.”

mocoshow.com/2024/02/10/marc-elrich-on-2023-crime-trends-in-montgomery-county/

mocoshow.com/2024/02/10/crime-up-in-montgomery-county-third-straight-year-auto-thefts-spiked-by-131-1/[/quote]

What's the difference between requirement to be a SRO and an officer patrolling the streets? Is it easier to find someone to be a SRO than a full cop (which according to the article above, the state requirements to be a cop will be dropped)?[/quote]

SROs are police officers that receive all the training of officers, work for MCPD, and are certified through the state.  So the application process is exactly the same.   They then can soecially apply for the SRO program and receive additional training on working with youth (which honestly could probably be increased/deepened as I think it was only 40 hours).  I’m not sure how much experience you need before applying into the SRO program.  
IME, the officers that apply for the SRO program typically have a special calling to work with youth or are interested in community/preventive policing.   It’s not a job the macho-men want.  A lot of the SROs are parents because the shifts can be a little more family friendly (although there are certainly parents that want regular work with night shifts so they can be home when their spouse is not — my mom was a late shift nurse growing up for this reason.). [/quote]

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